Red Raiders will open the season on Saturday at the UTSA Baseball Classic

LUBBOCK, Texas – The season-opening baseball series between Texas Tech and Northern Illinois has been officially cancelled as the two schools were unable to find suitable dates in which to reschedule. Northern Illinois announced on Saturday that they have cancelled all athletic and university events until Monday, Feb. 25.

“We are disappointed that we won’t be able to open our season at home like we had planned,” said Texas Tech Head Coach Larry Hays.  “This is just something that can’t be helped and like I said last week we want Coach Mathey and his staff at Northern Illinois to know that we support them in every way.  Their school is going through a terrible time right now and we want them to know that the Red Raiders are behind them.”

Texas Tech will now open its 2008 season this weekend on the road at the UTSA Baseball Classic at Wolff Stadium in San Antonio.  The Red Raiders will face off against Louisiana Lafayette, Army, Oral Roberts and host UTSA.  The tournament gets underway on Friday morning but Tech will not begin play until 10 a.m. on Saturday when the Red Raiders face No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette.  The last time Tech opened the season on the road was in 1998 when the Red Raiders dropped a 7-6 decision at New Mexico.

“We are very grateful to UTSA for allowing us to sneak into their tournament, “said Hays.  “It was absolutely crucial that we get some games in this weekend and have our pitching staff in a position to be ready for next week’s tournament at Minute Maid Park.”

Texas Tech’s home opener will now fall on Tuesday, March 4 when the Red Raiders face the Central Arkansas Bears at 6:05 p.m.