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Arms race a theme as Texas Tech baseball preps for opener at No. 8 North Carolina
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- Arms race a theme as Texas Tech baseball preps for opener at No. 8 North Carolina
The Texas Tech baseball team missed the NCAA tournamen t last year for the first time since 2015. The Red Raiders' 33-26 record also was the program's worst since 2015, Tim Tadlock's third year as head coach.
Pitching played a part. Six Red Raiders pitchers with key roles missed portions of the season, and the staff's 6.19 earned-run average ended up second worst in the Big 12.
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Tech opens the 2025 season Friday through Sunday at No. 8 North Carolina , having expended plenty of effort trying to rebuild the staff and settle on a starting rotation. Newcomer Jack Cebert , 7-6 with a 5.72 earned-run average last year for South Florida, and sophomore returnee Mac Heuer (4-5, 5.94) will pitch the first two games of the series, Tadlock said Tuesday.
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Cebert was 11-12 with a 5.53 ERA from 2022-24 at USF.
"He's pitched three years in college, pitched against some good teams," Tadlock said. "I don't think there's an environment — as far as going on the road — that's going to startle him or anything."
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Tadlock said Tech's starter for Sunday's series finale is to be determined. There's no shortage of candidates — for that start and other high-leverage roles.
Tech's cast of 23 pitchers includes eight returnees, six newcomers from junior colleges, four from the NCAA transfer portal and five freshmen.
"We've got plenty of depth there," Tadlock said. "We've got good starters and I would say we felt really good about where we were at the end of last Saturday, and that hasn't changed since."
Kyle Robinson's departure leaves hole atop Texas Tech baseball rotation
Last year's Friday night starter Kyle Robinson, who led the team in starts (15), innings (76) and strikeouts (79), departed as an 11th-round draft pick by the Oakland A 's. Two of the most promising adds from the transfer portal are Cebert and Lukas Pirko, righthanders who were full-time rotation members last year.
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Pirko, pitching for Cal Baptist, was a second-team freshman all-American and second-team all-Western Athletic Conference after going 5-3 with a 3.84 ERA.
"Any time a guy's a weekend starter and has some success and he's put a bunch of innings together," Tadlock said, "it shows you that there's been a lot of good there."
Texas Tech baseball pitcher Jack Cebert, shown in the Red-Black intrasquad series in October, threw 5 2/3 innings of scoreless, two-hit relief Saturday in a 13-8 win over Houston. The senior transfer from South Florida struck out eight and got his first victory in a Tech uniform.
Tech also took from the portal 6-foot-7 righthander Logan Bevis and lefthander Zach Crotchfelt. Bevis was 1-1 with a 4.94 ERA last year as a freshman at USF. Crotchfelt, in two years at Auburn, was 2-3 with a 5.69 ERA. He made six starts in 24 appearances and struck out 55 in 49 innings.
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"Bevis is a guy who could end up being better than everybody when it's all said and done," Tadlock said. "Crotchfelt's a kid that's lefthanded with a good arm. He's going to help us a bunch in a lot of big spots."
Mac Heuer, Trendan Parish head group of eight returning Texas Tech baseball pitchers
Heuer leads the cast of returning pitchers, along with senior Trendan Parish (2-2, 3.33), juniors Zane Petty (2-0, 7.88), Jacob Rogers (1-1, 7.45) and Zach Erdman (0-1, 6.55) and sophomore Parker Hutyra (4-3, 4.72). Petty (2-0, 7.88) has rebounded from a season-ending injury and been effective in preseason scrimmages, Tadlock said.
Also back are senior Carson Baugh (0-0, 18.47) and redshirt freshman Brady Trombello (1-0, 0.00).
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Heading the cast of former junior-college pitchers is righthander Tyler Boudreau who, in two years at Midland College, went 12-2 with a 3.97 ERA in 2023 and 11-2 with a 4.45 ERA in 2024. He made 30 starts, pitched 164⅓ innings and struck out 200.
J.T. Drake, a righty from Pima (Ariz.) Community College, went 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 15 saves in 2023 and 10-4 with a 2.28 ERA working exclusively as a starter in 2024.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Arms race a theme as Texas Tech baseball gets set for opener
