The College World Series is set. After a regional round that saw many teams play in monsoon like weather and a Super Regional that saw six of its eight series go to a game three, we finally have our last eight teams standing. Let’s take a look at the schools that have punched their ticket to Omaha. Our sixth team on the list is the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Texas Tech Red Raiders (44-18), Third CWS Appearance, Zero CWS Titles
According to d1baseball.com,Texas Tech had the 16th highest strength of schedule in 2018, but as far I can tell they didn’t perform the best against those top teams. The Red Raiders started out 14-0 until they ran into an SEC opponent, Kentucky, where they dropped two of three. After that 14-0 start, the club performed well, but gave no indications that they were going to be one of the last eight standing.
Texas Tech did host a regional where they beat up on New Mexico State in game one before a statement victory. Tech split a regular season series with Louisville, who just happened to be the number two seed in the Lubbock regional, before defeating them two games in a row to advance to the supers.
The Red Raiders had a tougher matchup than most in their super regional as they hosted a stout Duke Blue Devils team. Game one came down to the wire until Tech put two runs up in the bottom of the eighth to secure a 6-4 victory. Game two was a different story. Duke blew the Red Raiders out on their home field by a score of 11-2. While many began to question if the Raiders were a legitimate contender, they just kept their heads down and took care of business to a solid 6-2 win in game three.
Top Position Player
It was an outstanding season for Josh Jung. The Red Raiders sophomore slashed an eye-popping .381/.488/.643 and his 1.131 OPS terrorized Big 12 pitching. Jung was the main run producer on the club as the third baseman drove in 77 runs and he was second on the team in homers with 12. While Jung has a knack for mashing baseballs, one of the most impressive stats from his 2018 was his 39 walks to just 31 strikeouts.
Top Pitcher
The Baltimore Orioles made Caleb Kilian their 20th round pick after an impressive season for the Raiders. The 6’4 right hander posted a 3.04 ERA in 19 appearances and made the transition from reliever to starter.
First CWS Game: Sunday June 17th vs Florida
Featured Image Courtesy of: texastech.com
