The Texas Tech baseball team has returned to Lubbock and seeks to cure itself from the "losing disease."
The Red Raiders play Dallas Baptist (9-3) at 3 p.m. at Dan Law Field after dropping seven of their past eight games while on a California road trip.
"Right now we're concentrated on getting a win any way and any how," Tech infielder Joey Kenworthy said. "That's the only thing on our mind. It's a disease, like the coaches say. When you lose on the road like that, it can be tough. You can get used to losing."
Dallas Baptist, a program independent of an athletic conference, has wins over Binghamton, Sienna, Oakland and Central Arkansas while dropping one contest to Binghamton, TCU and Rice, respectively.
Offensively, DBU is led by outfielder Ryan Enos, who is batting .531 and converted 26 hits into 19 runs. Enos also has 21 RBI and eight home runs on the season.
DBU has four batters who have seen significant playing time batting above .300 and DBU has outscored opponents this season 106-63 through its first 11 games.
Victor Black, an Amarillo native, is expected to start the game on the mound for the Patriots today. Black has a 1-0 pitching record with a 2.81 ERA and 17 hits through 16 innings of work over three games.
Black is backed up by a solid DBU pitching staff. Collectively, the group allowed a 4.46 ERA. DBU's pitching staff will face a Tech team that has a combined .296 average. Kenworthy leads the team with a .431 followed by Justin Berry with a .345 and Kellen Monreal with a .300 to round out Tech batters currently at or over the .300 mark.
Nathan Karns (0-1) is expected to start for the Red Raiders. Karns has pitched in two games this season and has allowed 11 hits for 10 runs while striking five batters out through 5 2/3 innings of work.
DBU is relatively new to the Division I baseball ranks, entering just its fourth year of Division I play. However, the team already has made a name for itself by reaching the regional round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in the 2008 season. DBU became the first independent baseball program to make the tournament since 1992.
"They're going to be good," Tech pitcher Cory Large said. "They were really good last year. We're going to have to come out there and beat them, throw strikes and do what we've been doing offensively."
After today's game, Tech begins Big 12 Conference play with a three-game series against Nebraska at Dan Law Field.
Despite the misfortunes of the trip to the Golden State, the team believes they are in a good spot to start conference play, especially with preseason All-Big 12 infi elder Willie Rueda close to a return from a hamstring injury. Rueda could return as early as Friday.
"We're in a good position mentally," infielding coach Trent Petrie said. "Our guys believe in what we're doing, we've stuck with each other. We've had a little bad luck with injuries, but hopefully we'll get Rueda back soon."
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