When Texas Tech goes on the road to play Texas this weekend at Disch-Falk Field in Austin, Gavin Kash might remind himself not to take a wrong turn on the way to the clubhouse.
Kash found playing time hard to come by last year as a true freshman for the Longhorns, but he's tearing it up as an everyday player for the Red Raiders.
"I just knew that it was probably my time to leave and move on and start my journey," Kash said of his transfer to Tech from UT. "You can ask any guy in there (the Tech locker room). Everybody's had their own journey, and I think my journey was to be called to go here."
No. 14 Tech (18-4, 2-1) and Texas (15-7, 0-0) meet in the Longhorns' first Big 12 series at 7 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Playing first base and a fixture in the middle of the Tech order, Kash ranks first or second in the Big 12 in batting average (.440), home runs (seven), runs batted in (34), slugging percentage (.791) and OPS (1.342). The 6-foot-3, 210-pound sophomore already has a dozen multi-hit games, including one with five hits, two of four hits and two of three hits.
After one of those big days, he said, "There's always better, you know? It's not about what's in the past. Those games are in the past. It's about what I'm going to do next week and the next week and from there on out."
It's quite the change from his first season of college baseball when he went to UT as a top prospect out of Beaumont Kelly. Texas' Ivan Melendez was the unanimous national player of the year in 2022, and the Longhorns' first baseman. Kash got into 16 games, made only four starts and batted .174 with no RBI.
Texas coach David Pierce was asked Wednesday in a press setting why it didn't work out for Kash at Texas.
Pierce pointed to the difficulties of roster and scholarship money management last year, when the deadlines for scholarship renewal and the NCAA transfer portal fell on July 1, before the Major League draft from July 17-19. Coaches were forced to make decisions on players with a lot of guesswork about their personnel in the fall.
Division I coaches have the money from 11.7 scholarships to spread among 27 players. Pierce implied hard conversations were had before those deadlines with players whose level of scholarship money he couldn't promise.
"It puts me, coaches, in a position to go, 'Hey, if we needed some help on some money, or if we need to make some adjustments in your scholarship for the time being,' then I need to go to you and talk to you about that," Pierce said in a clip posted by HornSports. "If that's not something that's comfortable for you, I want to give you the opportunity to go play (elsewhere).
"The flip side is you could not worry about that, let it run its course, get through the draft and then see what you need, or what kind of scholarship money you have, what your roster looks like, what your incoming (talent) looks like.
"If we make a decision then (after the draft), then the kid's stuck. Whether he's stuck with having to get a loan or whether he's stuck transferring (late) and not being eligible, I just didn't feel like it was right to do that with any of our players. Sometimes it doesn't work out for you, but at the end of the day I want it to work out for players.
"Gavin Kash was outstanding when he was here. He fit in well. It just didn't work out for him to stick around."
Tech assistant coach J-Bob Thomas recruited Kash out of high school.
Kash said there was nothing in particular that made him choose Tech, but he's glad he did.
"It's awesome," he said. "Not every day you come to a new group of guys and everybody accepts you all the time. It's definitely a challenge at first just readjusting, but I got in quick. Everybody was very welcoming, and it's really nice to see. No matter me or the freshmen or transfers, everybody was welcomed and with open arms. It's a good feeling."
Who:Texas Tech at Texas
When:7 p.m. Friday, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
Where:Disch-Falk Field, Austin
Records:Texas Tech 18-4, 2-1 in the Big 12; Texas 15-7, 0-0
Rankings by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association:Texas Tech No. 14, Texas unranked
Starting pitchers:Friday, Texas Tech RHP Brendan Girton (2-0, 4.50 earned-run average) vs. LHP Lucas Gordon (2-0, 1.37). Saturday, Texas Tech LHP Mason Molina (2-1, 2.81) vs. RHP Travis Sthele (2-2, 4.07). Sunday, both teams' starters to be determined.
TV:All games on Longhorn Network
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Gavin Kashing in on chance with Red Raiders
