A roundup of Texas Tech news for Friday, May 24, 2024.
Throughout much of the Tim Tadlock era, the Texas Tech baseball team was known for quickly exiting the Big 12 Tournament, and of course, most of those years the Red Raiders had already qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
But that won't be the case this season, as the Red Raiders need to win the Big 12 Tournament to qualify for next week's NCAA Regional. Luckily, Tadlock's team is still competing in Arlington, Texas.
The Red Raiders beat Texas in their tournament opener on Tuesday, lost to Oklahoma State on Wednesday but beat Cincinnati 10-5 on Thursday to stay in the tournament.
The secret to the Red Raiders' victory was the early offensive attack from their hitters and a strong start from Ryan Free on the mound.
Tech scored five runs in the second inning to lead 8-0 after two innings, giving Freel the freedom to attack the strike zone, resulting in his best start of the year.
Free pitched 6.2 innings, allowing three hits and three runs while striking out four Bearcats. With the win, Free improved to 6-2 on the season.
At the plate, Gage Harrelson and Tracer Lopez each had two hits and scored two runs, while Owen Washburn was hitless but led the team with three RBIs.
But the Red Raiders' work isn't done yet. To advance to Saturday's Big 12 Tournament championship game, they must beat Oklahoma State on Friday at 4 p.m. and then immediately beat the University of Central Florida in the second game of a doubleheader.
If the Red Raiders lose either game, they will likely be eliminated and miss the NCAA Tournament, but at least Tadlock and his team still have a chance to extend their season.
It was announced this week that the Texas Tech basketball team will host the University of Wyoming Cowboys for the next two seasons. The deal was made as part of a larger settlement between Texas Tech and the University of Wyoming following the buyout of former Cowboys basketball head coach Jeff Linder, who is currently a member of Grant McCasland's coaching staff as an associate head coach.
According to Wyoming reporter Alex Taylor, Tech will pay Wyoming $150,000 per basketball game, and the payment for Wyoming's football team will increase from $300,000 to $500,000 when it comes to Lubbock in 2028. In return, Wyoming agreed to waive its buyout of Linder.
Jeff Linder's Wyoming purchase was transformed into:
– Two away basketball games at Texas Tech this season and next season ($150,000 each, totaling $300,000)
– Increase the guaranteed amount for the away football game against Texas Tech in 2028 by $200,000 (from $300,000 to $500,000).
— Alex Taylor (@alex_m_taylor22) May 21, 2024
Last season, Wyoming went 15-17 under Linder. Next season, the Cowboys will be led by new head coach Sundance Wicks.
He led Green Bay to an 18-14 record in 2023. Prior to that, he spent two seasons at Missouri Western.
The historic run came to an end for the Texas Tech women's tennis doubles team of Metka Komack and Avelina Saifedinova on Thursday. The Red Raiders, who reached the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for the first time in the team's history, lost 6-3, 4-6, 0-1 (9) to Georgia's Aysegul Mahto and Dasha Vidmanova.
The No. 5 seeded Red Raiders took the first set but dropped the second to the No. 14 seeded Bulldogs. In the tiebreaker, the Bulldogs outshot the Red Raiders, 11-9.
According to TexasTech.com, “Komack and Saifedinova finished their historic season with All-American and All-Big 12 First Team selections and the Big 12 Position Championship in Court One doubles. They posted an impressive 30-6 record overall in doubles and six wins in ranked doubles.”
