Texas Tech Baseball Misses the Cut for NCAA Tournament
The NCAA Baseball selection committee announced the 64-team field and the Texas Tech Red Raiders were left out for another season and they have nobody to blame but themselves.
Texas Tech finished the season at 7th place in the Big 12 Conference with a 33-25 record and wins over NCAA Tournament teams Texas A&M (1-3 overall), Texas (1-2), Baylor (2-1), Oklahoma State (2-1), Dallas Baptist (1-1), and Mountain West Tournament winner New Mexico (3-1) who finished 20-39.
The Red Raiders controlled their own destiny going into the Big 12 Tournament where they needed to make up for series losses against Kansas State (swept), Oklahoma (swept), TCU (swept) and Missouri (2 of 3), but they went 0 for 2 losing to Texas A&M and Oklahoma in Oklahoma City.
Texas Tech has big things on the horizon for 2012 with the long awaited and long needed renovations to Dan Law Field, however how long can this program sustain a drought of tournament appearances?
The program reached rock bottom when they missed consecutive Big 12 Tournaments in 2007 and 2008 and Dan Spencer has brought them back to be competitive in the conference and the road to national prominence from the mid-90's to early 2000's is still a long way off.
The 2012 season will bring talk of do or die for Dan Spencer and many fans that have followed the program will be antsy if results don't come immediately and I don't blame for them for our cultural context in sports to produce and produce now. Just remember that Larry Hays took 7 seasons to get Tech into the NCAA Tournament.
Patience is still a virtue, my friends.