In Ray Hayward’s first season at Texas Tech, most of the Red Raider pitching staff resembled its coach.
Not that it was full of top-10 draft picks or pitchers able to dominate both ways, throwing unhittable strikes over the plate and crushing bombs away from it.
Instead, 77 percent of those 2013 pitchers were in their inaugural season as Red Raiders.
Now in his fourth year as Texas Tech’s pitching coach, Hayward once again faces a staff full of new faces. But something sets this group apart from his group from seasons prior.
“This year’s class we probably have more freshmen pitching for us than we did last time,” Hayward said.