Texas Tech Notes

WACO, Texas -- Baylor baseball matches up with No. 6 Texas Tech on the road this weekend as the Bears return to Big 12 Conference play. The series features games on Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m on FOX Sports Southwest Plus.

All Baylor baseball games are broadcast live on Waco's 1660 ESPN Central Texas (1330 AM/100.9 FM in Temple, Belton and Killeen). Derek Smith provides the play-by-play with Steve Johnigan adding color commentary. Live streaming audio, video and GameTracker also are available for all Baylor baseball home games online at BaylorBears.com.

SERIESà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € INFO
Date(s): April 7-9, 2017
Time(s): 6:30 PM | 2 PM | 2 PM CT
Location: Lubbock, Texas
Stadium: Griffin Park (4,432)
Radio: ESPN/KRZI 1660 AMà ¢Ã¢' ¬Ã‹ € (Waco)
Talent: Derek Smith (pxp), Zach Peters (color)

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: TTU leads 83-79
Streak: TTU has won 1
Waco: BU leads 37-18
Lubbock: TTU leads 50-24
Neutral Site: BU leads 5-3
Rodriguez vs: 1-2
First Meeting: 1928
Last Meeting: March 20, 2016

SERIES MULTIMEDIA
Live Stats: TexasTech.com
Audio: BaylorBears.com
Video: TexasTech.com
Twitter Updates: @BaylorBaseball

BAYLOR BEARS
2017 Record: 19-10
2017 Big 12 Record: 2-4
Head Coach: Steve Rodriguez
Career: 329-337 (14th season)
BU: 43-39 (2nd season)

2017 STAT LEADERS
AVG: Matt Menard (.317)
2B: Cascadden, Cunningham (7)
HR: Shea Langeliers (5)
RBI: Kameron Esthay (20)
SB: T.J. Raguse (2)

TEXAS TECH RED RAIDERS
2017 Record: 26-6
2017 Big 12 Record: 4-2
Head Coach: Tim Tadlock
Career: 175-101 (5th season)
TTU: 175-101 (5th season)

2017 STAT LEADERS
AVG: Grant Little (.382)
2B: Hunter Hargrove (15)
HR: Garcia, McMillon (4)
RBI: Hargrove, Garcia (28)
SB: Hunter Hargrove (7)

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Foundation

Steve Rodriguez doesn't like to use clichÃÆ' ©s, but it's hard to miss that his players have been pressing a little during a rough stretch that has seen the Baylor baseball team lose three straight series and eight of its last 12 games.

"As a coach, you can kind of feel it," said Rodriguez, whose Bears (19-10, 2-4) face sixth-ranked Texas Tech (26-6, 4-2) in a three-game series this weekend in Lubbock. "You can feel there's something going on. . . . What I'm worried about is our guys are trying to make up for things that may have happened in the past. They're trying to make everything up in one at-bat or one pitch."

Senior designated hitter Matt Menard, hitting a team-best .317, said that's not unusual for players to try to do more when things don't go well.

"The thing about baseball is the more you press, the less success you're going to have," he said. "We've got to get back to where we were at the start of the season. We can't make any drastic changes. We're the same team. We've just got to come in and dial it in and focus up and get ready to tee it up against Texas Tech."

Even in the rough patch, the Bears have had good production from the top of the lineup with sophomore leftfielder T.J. Raguse (.268) leading off, followed by Menard and freshman catcher Shea Langeliers (.303, five homers, 18 RBI).

"They're consistent, they're not swinging at bad pitches," Rodriguez said. "We talked to our guys about this up at Washington: It doesn't really matter how great your swing is. If you don't swing at strikes, it becomes irrelevant. I think what they're doing is they're putting themselves in offensive counts and they're laying really good swings at pitches they should hit."

In Wednesday's 11-1 loss to Lamar, Rodriguez said he saw some encouraging signs and good at-bats from junior rightfielder Kameron Esthay, senior first baseman Aaron Dodson and sophomore centerfielder Richard Cunningham, "who was our leading hitter before he got hurt."

"We're trying to get him back, and watching his at-bats this past game was really encouraging," Rodriguez said. "So, I'm hoping to see some really good things out of him this weekend."

Junior third baseman Steven McLean has missed the last three games with a bone bruise in his hand and is listed as day-to-day.

"It's just a matter of pain tolerance," Rodriguez said. "We know he can play defense for us, no problem. I would just hate to put him out there and lose him for several more weeks for one or two games."

Freshman Davis Wendzel, who's hitting .247 with one homer and 11 RBI, is a capable replacement for McLean at third.

"Defensively, I have no concerns with him. And offensively, he gives us some more power in the lineup," Rodriguez said. "In fact, he was in the lineup at the beginning of the season because of those things. I have no problem with him in the lineup."

One of three Big 12 teams that advanced to the College World Series last season, Tech has most of its pitching staff returning from that team and has won 13 of 14 games this year at Dan Law Field. The Red Raiders are hitting a league-high .295 with 216 runs scored and rank third in the conference with a 3.18 ERA.

The pitching matchups will have Baylor right-hander Nick Lewis pitted against Tech righty John Henry Gonzalez (2-2, 3.91) for Friday's 6:30 p.m. series opener; Montana Parsons (2-2, 2.95) versus Tech lefty Steven Gingery (6-0, 0.92) in Saturday's 2 p.m. game; and then freshman lefty Cody Bradford (4-2, 2.96) squaring off against Tech right-hander Ryan Shetter (2-0, 3.50) in Sunday's 2 p.m. series finale.

"I know we're in kind of a sticky spot, we're not playing too well," Lewis said. "But, I think it will be good to get on the road. Every knows we're playing a good team and they know we have to bring it. Sometimes, those midweek games are kind of trap games. With a team like Tech, you know they're going to have good guys, whether they've been there four years or they're freshman. We have to play well, no matter who's pitching or who's at the plate."

*Baylor's 15-2 start through 17 games was tied for its best in program history (started 15-2 in 1990 and 1961).

*Baylor is 6-3 away from Baylor Ballpark this season (4-2 on road, 2-1 in neutral sites).

*Baylor is 5-4 against ranked teams this season.

*Baylor is 3-3 this season and 6-7 under Steve Rodriguez against Baseball America ranked teams and 200-295-1 all-time, including a 30-40 mark in neutral sites, and 35-43 mark since 2011.

*Baylor is 0-1 this season and 90-148 all-time against Baseball America top 10 teams with its last series win coming in Waco vs. TCU (2-1) on May 13-15, 2016.

*Baylor has lost its last 3 three-game series of the season after winning three in a row with two sweeps.

*In 7 weekends, Baylor starting rotation has combined to give up just 48 runs (43 earned) on 123 hits and 49 walks with 97 strikeouts in 130.1 innings for a 2.97 ERA and 1.32 WHIP. The trio Sr. RHP Nick Lewis, Jr. RHP Montana Parsons and Fr. LHP Cody Bradford has a record of 9-6.

*Baylor had 5 pitching shutouts in its first 23 games since 1995 (5) and has 5 for the 1st time in a season since 2013 (5) -- 3 of the shutouts have come against ranked foes.

*Jr. preseason All-American and NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List member closer Troy Montemayor has 7 saves (16th in NCAA, 2nd in Big 12) this season. He converted his 1st 8 career save attempts last season, and after blowing a save in his 9th attempt, had converted 12 straight. He's 21-for-23 in converting save attempts in his career. He's tied for 3rd on Baylor's career saves list (21).