Aj Tech Golf

John Dudley: McDowell grad Oberacker ready for another run at pro ball

Tennessee Tech baseball coach Matt Bragga doesn't like his hitters to play golf during the season because he fears it will foul them up at the plate.

So with his college career a few days behind him, Chad Oberacker wasted little time getting out on the course, playing a round with his father, Murray, on Friday at Yankee Run outside Sharon.

After all, it might not be long before Oberacker is back to swinging a bat.

Baseball's amateur draft begins Monday, and the former McDowell standout -- who just wrapped up his senior season with Tennessee Tech -- is expected to be selected for the second year in a row.

Oberacker went to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 19th round in 2010, but he opted to return to school to finish up his degree and play his final college season.

"I don't have any regrets at all about the decision," Oberacker said, even though Tennessee Tech never really found its stride, finishing 25-29 and going out early in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, and even though Oberacker was unable to duplicate the monster numbers he posted as a junior, when he ranked third in Division I with a .452 batting average.

"I had a goal when I went to college to finish my degree in four years," Oberacker said. "And I was able to play another season with my friends. Baseball was still fun this spring. It's going to turn into more of a business now."

That business begins this week. As a college senior, Oberacker has lost some of the leverage enjoyed by juniors who can use the option of returning to school to try work clubs for sweeter deals.

Oberacker could actually end up going higher this time but receive a lesser offer, because teams might assume he will be more eager to sign since he has no fallback plan.

Whatever the case, Oberacker expects to be taken somewhere between the 10th and 20th rounds, and he said he is willing to put his plans to attend physical therapy school on hold while he pursues a baseball career.

"I'm pretty committed to signing," Oberacker said. "I want to try to play and see what happens."

The best-case scenario will see him produce as he did as a junior and during the second half of his senior season.

Oberacker emerged as one of the nation's best hitters in 2010, when he drove in 70 runs and shared Tennessee Tech's co-Male Athlete of the Year honors with teammate A.J. Kirby-Jones.

But he started slowly this spring and was batting right around .200 through his first 14 games.

Tech women's golf team earns NCAA berth | Red Raiders

The Texas Tech women’s golf team earned its second consecutive postseason selection Monday and was picked to play in the NCAA East Regional on May 5-7 at the LPGA International Legends Course in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Tech is the 15th seed in the 24-team regional. The Lady Raiders have never advanced past the regional round as a team in school history.

No. 11 Colorado is the only other Big 12 Conference school in the regional. Alabama is the top seed, followed by Purdue, California, Arizona State, and Auburn.

One of seven Big 12 schools to advance to the postseason, Tech’s selection is its 12th in program history and third in the past four seasons.

Tech is coming off a sixth place finish last weekend at the Big 12 championships in Columbia, Mo., one week after winning the Baylor Invitational. The Lady Raiders have placed in the top 10 of each of their past four tournaments.

The top eight teams and top two individuals from each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, held May 18-21 at the Traditions Club in Bryan.

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