Texas Tech Baseball Prepares for Shriners Children's College Showdown

The Red Raiders baseball team looks to get some key wins in a three-game slate of games against Power Four conference teams.

Head coach Tim Tadlock | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Here is a look at the three games that Texas Tech baseball will open up against this season.

Texas Tech plays Oklahoma in the season opener. It's the first game of the 2026 season for both teams, and it should be a good one. There is still a lot of history between these two teams, even though Oklahoma moved from the Big 12 to the SEC. Since 2000, Oklahoma has a 35-31 lead in this series and has won the last four games in this former Big 12 rivalry.

Texas Tech takes on No. 18-ranked Vanderbilt in its second game of the Shriners Children's College Showdown. In Game 2, the Commodores hope to get back on track following a disappointing exit in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt has a reputation for having outstanding pitchers, and they hope to get back to their winning ways after they lost to Wright State in the NCAA Tournament Regional that they hosted. Logan Hughes, an outfielder for Texas Tech who was selected to the All-Big 12 team before the season, will have to lead the charge against Vandy's fast arms.

The Red Raiders' third game is against No. 5-ranked Arkansas. The Razorbacks could be Tech's biggest challenge of the weekend. Arkansas boasts several talented players, including Carson Brumbaugh, and two preseason All-Americans, Gabe Gaeckle and Carson Wiggins. These two teams have not played one another since 2024, and the Razorbacks have won the last three games in this series.

Texas Tech is looking for redemption and to get back to their winning ways this season.

From 2016 to 2023 (in 2020, there was no NCAA Tournament), the Red Raiders made the NCAA Tournament. From 2018 to 2021, they were NCAA Tournament regional champions. Most importantly, they made it to the College World Series in back-to-back years in 2018-19. Since Tim Tadlock took over the program, the Red Raiders have had successful seasons most of the time. However, last season, Texas Tech went 20-33, and in 2024, they failed to make it to the NCAA Tournament.

This season they are not ranked in the preseason top 25 polls and they are not projected to finish in the top 5 of the Big 12 standings this season. However, preseason rankings are not a reliable prediction measurement of how well a team is going to do but Texas Tech needs to get some early momentum and winning two of these three upcoming games would do that.

To return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023, Texas Tech must capitalize on its new pitching staff and favorable home-field advantage this season. Tadlock has been working to stabilize a group that has both senior power and young players with a lot of potential after a tough 2025 season.

They need to make the most of their upcoming 15-game homestand. After the first three games, Tech will play 15 straight games at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. Texas Tech has always been strong at home, selling out season tickets for 12 years in a row. They need to win at least 12 of these 15 games against teams like Albany, CSU Bakersfield, and Penn State to get ready for Big 12 play on March 13 against Kansas.

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