Texas Tech baseball appeared at No. 14 in the D1 Baseball Preseason Top 25 poll, the publication announced today.
It marks the third-straight year Texas Tech has posted a preseason top 25 ranking. D1 Baseball is also the second publication to put the Red Raiders in their opening poll, as Tech also cracked Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s Top 40 at No. 29. Four of the Red Raiders’ 2017 opponents appear in the D1 Baseball Preseason Top 25.
After starting 2016 in the top 25 of one poll, Tech navigated through their slate to their third-straight 30+ win season behind a 47-20 record, including a 19-5 conference mark en route to a No. 5 national seed and a final ranking of No. 4. The Red Raiders earned their fifth conference title and returned to the College World Series for the second time in three years last season. Tech’s 47 wins were the third-most in school history and was the second 45+ win season under head coach Tim Tadlock.
The Red Raiders return 17 letterwinners from last year’s championship squad, including All-American outfielder Tanner Gardner and Freshman All-Americans Steven Gingery and Davis Martin.
Gardner became the 34th All-America honoree in school history with his nod from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) after tallying a team-high .379 batting average with 89 hits, including 19 doubles, six triples and three home runs, along with 35 RBI and 55 runs scored. He was also a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection.
Gingery and Martin became the 13th & 14th Freshman All-Americans in the program record books after a strong debut season in the scarlet & black. Gingery led the Red Raiders with 63 strikeouts after putting together a 4-2 record overall, including a spotless 3-0 conference record and a 1.85 ERA. Martin also had a clean Big 12 mark going 6-0 in league play on his way to a 10-1 overall record.
Martin earned four Freshman All-America honors in 2016 and garnered Preseason All-America accolades from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper on Dec. 19.
The Red Raiders open the 2017 slate on the road with a pair of two-game series against Mississippi State and Western Illinois beginning Feb. 17 in Starkville, Mississippi.
Courtesy of Texas Tech Athletics