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Texas Tech baseball making staff change after team's worst record since 1985
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- Texas Tech baseball making staff change after team's worst record since 1985
This story has been updated to add more information and a comment from Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock.
The Texas Tech baseball team , after finishing 13 games below .500, will undergo a staff change.
Pitching coach Matt Gardner , a member of the staff since the 2014 season, won't return next season. D1Baseball first reported the development, and Tech coach Tim Tadlock confirmed it to the Avalanche-Journal.
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Tech is next-to-last in the Big 12 in team ERA for the second year in a row, posting a 6.49 ERA this year and a 6.19 last year. Of the Red Raiders' regular weekend starters in conference play, Zane Petty had the lowest ERA at 5.92 with Mac Heuer at 6.28 and Tyler Boudreau at 6.65.
"I'd like to thank Matt and his family for their dedication to our baseball program the past 12 seasons," Tadlock said in a statement Tech released. "Ultimately, this season did not meet the standards and expectations we have as a program. Our goal is to compete for Big 12 championships and to put ourselves in position to win a national championship. That goal will remain as we search for a new pitching coach and begin to build our roster for next season."
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Texas Tech pitching coach Matt Gardner talks to Connor Mohan and Dylan Maxcey during a non-conference Division I baseball game, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at Dan Law Field.
With a first-round loss to Cincinnati in the Big 12 tournament, Tech finished 20-33 this season. That's not only the Red Raiders' first losing season since 2013, Tadlock's first as Tech head coach, but the program's fewest wins and lowest winning percentage since Gary Ashby's next-to-last team in 1985 went 18-33. The Red Raiders will miss the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.
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During Gardner's Texas Tech tenure, counting his time as a volunteer assistant, the Red Raiders have had 41 pitchers drafted or signed out college as free agents by Major League organizations and 10 have made it to the big leagues. Since 2018, corresponding to Gardner's time as the Red Raiders' pitching coach, Tech has had 25 pitchers drafted with eight making it to the big leagues.
Those eight have made their Major League debuts since May 2022: Caleb Kilian , Davis Martin , John McMillon , Clayton Beeter , Patrick Monteverde , Mason Montgomery , Caleb Freeman and Hunter Dobbins .
Gardner, a son of former area high school baseball coach Rod Gardner, was a pitcher at Oklahoma State. He joined the Tech staff as a volunteer assistant in 2013 and was promoted to assistant coach in June 2017.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech baseball making staff change after sub-.500 season
