Texas Tech baseball head coach Tim Tadlock announced on Monday changes to the Red Raider coaching staff.
Ray Hayward will remain on staff as a special assistant. Matt Gardner, Tech’s volunteer assistant coach since 2013, has been named assistant coach and will serve as the Red Raiders’ pitching coach.
“Ray and Matt have been a great team working with our pitchers and will continue to do so with our program,” Tadlock said. “Over the last three years, Matt has had numerous opportunities to be a pitching coach at other programs and has shown great loyalty & desire to stay in Lubbock. Our reshuffling is a direct result of wanting to keep our staff together and moving forward to make our program the best it can be.”
Gardner joined the Texas Tech baseball staff in 2013 following two seasons as pitching coach at Lubbock Christian University (2012-13). Gardner previously spent three seasons as a graduate assistant coach (2009) and volunteer assistant coach (2010-11) at his alma mater, Oklahoma State. Prior to his coaching stint at Oklahoma State, Gardner was a standout pitcher at OSU and excelled as a pitcher & catcher under Tadlock at Grayson County College (2005).
“Ray will be our special assistant, which is an evolving role in college baseball and will be a great asset to our staff & team,” Tadlock said. “Ray’s experience and wisdom in all areas of baseball is something that is immeasurable and this role will allow our program great opportunities for growth. He will continue to be a fundamental piece in developing our student-athletes into championship individuals both on and off the field.”
Hayward came to Lubbock in 2012 as part of Tadlock’s inaugural staff at Texas Tech. Over five years, Tech has had 19 pitchers selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft or that have signed a free agent contract, as left-handers Parker Mushinski (seventh round) and Jacob Patterson (13th round) were taken in this year’s draft.
“Matt is one of the rising names in college coaching and we’re excited about him continuing to work with our pitchers and catchers,” Tadlock said. “He has been invaluable in game preparation and his due diligence in day-to-day tasks both on and off the field garners well-deserved respect. We feel like it would be a mistake to not recognize the contributions he has brought to our team and we are beyond excited he will remain on staff.”
The Texas Tech pitching staff finished second in the Big 12 with a 3.73 ERA in 2017, the 10th lowest in school history. Sophomore left-hander Steven Gingery led the Red Raiders with a 1.58 ERA, putting together a 10-1 record along with 107 strikeouts. Gingery earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and became the program’s first unanimous First Team All-American after earning the distinction from six different publications.
(COURTESY TEXAS TECH SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT)
