FROM CBD NEWS SOURCE
LUBBOCK, Texas – The Texas Tech baseball program and second-year head coach Tim Tadlock released the Red Raiders 56-game schedule for the 2014 season Tuesday morning.
Texas Tech’s schedule is highlighted by 35 home games at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park – its most home games since 2004 – while playing 18 games against seven NCAA Tournament opponents from a year ago and opening the season hosting a four-game series against Indiana, who is coming off its first appearance at the College World Series.
Tech will also make its eighth appearance at the Houston College Classic facing Houston (Feb. 28), Sam Houston State (Mar. 1) and Rice (Mar. 2) at Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros.
“We welcome the challenge of playing in what we feel like is the best baseball conference in the country with the competition our league brings us week-in and week-out,” Tadlock said of the Red Raiders 2014 schedule. “The majority of our non-conference games will be against teams that have represented their league in the NCAA tournament over the last three or four years.
“As far as our slate is concerned, we will host 14 different teams to our beautiful ballpark and want to show them that Lubbock has the best fans and community in all of college baseball.”
For the first time since 1995 – and just the third time in school history – the Red Raiders will open their season against a College World Series opponent from the previous season. Indiana went 49-16 last season while capturing Big Ten regular season and postseason tournament titles. It will be the first time in school history Tech has opened the season at home against a CWS opponent from the previous season.
Tech hosts Indiana for Opening Day on Friday, Feb. 14 at 2 p.m. at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. Following its four-game series with the Hoosiers, Tech will host Oral Roberts (Feb. 21-23) for the Brooks Wallace Memorial Classic Series before BYU (Feb. 24) heads to Lubbock for a midweek game. The eight consecutive games in Lubbock to open the season match the longest homestand of the year for the Red Raiders.
Tech’s first road trip consists of four consecutive games away from Lubbock at Stephen F. Austin (Feb. 27) and three games at Minute Maid Park for the Houston College Classic.
The Red Raiders will play their opening 32 games of the season in the Lone Star state.
Tech has a six-game homestand welcoming New Mexico (Mar. 4), New Mexico State (Mar. 6-9) and Abilene Christian (Mar. 11) before opening Big 12 play at Baylor (Mar. 14-16) – which marks the third time Tech has opened Big 12 competition in Waco over the last four seasons (2011, 2012).
Tech will play three of its opening four Big 12 series on the road while finishing the season with three of four series in Lubbock.
Tech plays road conference series at Baylor, TCU (Mar. 21-23), Oklahoma State (Apr. 4-6) and Kansas (May 2-4).
The Red Raiders will wait until the final weekend of March to play its first home Big 12 series against Texas, Mar. 28-30. Tech will also welcome defending Big 12 regular season champion Kansas State (Apr. 11-13), defending Big 12 Tournament champion Oklahoma (Apr. 25-27) along with West Virginia (May 15-17) for its first-ever trip and league series in Lubbock.
Tech plays a pair of neutral site games in April traveling to Midland to play New Mexico at Citibank Ballpark on Tuesday, Apr. 1, and will then face Big 12-foe TCU in Abilene at Crutcher Scott Field on Tuesday, Apr. 22.
Tech’s midweek game against TCU in Abilene marks the Red Raiders first time playing a conference opponent in a non-conference regular season game at a neutral site since also taking on the Horned Frogs in Houston on March 16, 1996 when both teams were a part of the Southwest Conference.
Tech’s final road conference series is at Kansas (May 2-4) before traveling to Dallas Baptist (May 6) for its last midweek game of the season. For the fourth consecutive season the Red Raiders will complete its regular season at home hosting West Virginia (May 15-17) for the Mountaineers first trip to the South Plains.
The top eight teams in the league will advance to the Big 12 Championships (May 21-25) in Oklahoma City Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, home of the Houston Astros Triple-A affiliate, the Oklahoma City RedHawks.
