LUBBOCK, Texas — No. 23 Texas Tech erased a five-run deficit with 12 unanswered runs Saturday afternoon as the Red Raiders completed a three-game sweep of Oklahoma with a 13-7 victory in front of a sellout crowd at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

The Red Raiders (16-7; 5-1) trailed 6-1 early before mounting their comeback with five runs in the third inning and then four in the fourth and three more in the fifth. The five-run deficit marked the largest for Tech to overcome in a win since the Red Raiders also trailed by five runs in a 12-7 victory at New Mexico on May 1, 2012.

The victory continued a successful start to Big 12 play for the Red Raiders, who are now 5-1 in league action for the first time since 1999 when Tech opened with wins in seven of its first eight conference games.

Four different Red Raiders recorded multi-RBI games en route to leading Tech to its second-straight sweep of the Sooners (11-13-1; 0-3) in Lubbock. Cory Raley and Ryan Long led the group with three RBI each while Tyler Neslony and Orlando Garcia both drove in a pair of runs of their own.

Long sparked Tech’s rally in the third as he lined a two-run single up the middle that cut the deficit to just a run. Raley and Neslony previously plated runs earlier in the frame off an RBI single and sacrifice fly before Tyler Fowler scored the tying run via a RBI ground out.

Garcia broke the game open an inning later with a two-out, two-run single into centerfield, scoring both Neslony and Raley. Michael Davis scored one of his two runs in the game earlier in the inning on a wild pitch.

The three-run lead was more than enough for Hayden Howard (5-1), who picked up his Big 12-leading fifth win of the season after tossing 3.2 shutout innings of relief. Howard allowed just four hits and struck out two before giving way to Ryan Moseley to start the seventh inning.

Moseley did not surrender a hit over three complete innings for his first save of the season. Tech also turned to Chandler Eden and Parker Mushinski in relief as the Red Raider bullpen allowed just two runs (one earned) over the final 7.2 innings.

Connor Berry (0-2) suffered the loss in relief for the Sooners as the right-hander allowed four runs off two hits and a strikeout in his only inning of work. Oklahoma used six relievers in place of starter Keaton Hernandez, who lasted just two innings after giving up five runs off five hits and a pair of walks.

The Red Raiders totaled 13 hits in the victory, three of which that came off the bat of Tanner Gardner as the sophomore recorded his team-leading 12th multi-hit game this season. Michael Davis (2-for-5), Raley (2-for-2) and Garcia (2-for-4) also joined Gardner with multi-hit performances.

Tech returns to the road Monday night as the Red Raiders travel to Las Vegas for a two-game midweek series at UNLV. The series begins with a 8:05 p.m. CT first pitch Monday night.

Courtesy: Texas Tech Sports Information Department