The No. 6 Texas Tech baseball team got back in the win column with a 12-4 victory over New Mexico on Tuesday afternoon at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

The Red Raiders (29-7) tallied 12 runs on 11 hits against the Lobos (18-13-1), scoring 10 or more runs for the 10th time this season and the third time in the last five games. It was the second win of the year against New Mexico, as Tech posted a 7-2 win on Feb. 28 in Lubbock. The two teams will meet for a two-game midweek series on April 25-26 in Albuquerque.

Four different Red Raiders posted multi-hit performances against the Lobos, as Michael Davis, Orlando Garica, Josh Jung and Kholeton Sanchez all put down two-hit bids on Tuesday. Davis & Jung also tallied three RBI each, while Cody Farhat also drove in two runs.

Freshman right-hander John Henry Gonzalez made his eighth start on the mound on Tuesday afternoon against the Lobos. The Edinburg native went 4.0 innings, allowing four runs over the final two frames of work, while striking out four. Sophomore lefty Erikson Lanning picked up his second win of the year after tossing an inning of shutout relief. It was his first win since Feb. 26 against California. 

As a whole, the Tech bullpen tossed 5.0 frames of shutout baseball, giving up four hits and striking out five. It was a similar line to the last time the two teams squared off, as the pen threw another 5.0 frames of scoreless ball, with five hits and three strikeouts in the Feb. 28 contest.

The Red Raiders got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning, scoring three to take a 3-0 lead. Hargrove & Garcia began the frame with back-to-back singles to put two on for Beck, who laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt that couldn’t be corralled by the first baseman, loading the bases for Gardner. 

A grounder to the first baseman from Gardner was stopped but couldn’t be contained quick enough to make a play at home, allowing Hargrove to score on the RBI groundout. In the next at-bat, Farhat delivered a two-RBI double to the gap in left-center, plating Garcia & Beck to push Tech’s advantage up to 3-0.

The Lobos got the runs back in the third after UNM’s Stajduhar drove in Collier on a single to CF, who reached with one out in the frame after a single, then moved over to third on a pair of wild pitches. Schilling would hit into a fielder’s choice, but a grounder just soft enough to only get one out at second, allowing Stajduhar to score. It was followed by an RBI single from Vigil to score Mang to tie the game at three. 

New Mexico took the lead in the top of the fourth after a two-out double to right field from Zoellner scored Collier, who reached on a double to the left earlier in the inning.

Tech quickly answered in the bottom half of the inning, as Garcia got things started with a triple to the right-center field gap on the second pitch he saw from new pitcher Austin Isenhart. Beck drove him in with an RBI single through the left side to knot the game up at four. 

The Red Raiders tacked on three runs in the fifth inning to break the tie and push the lead to 7-4. Sanchez led off the frame with a double down the left field line, putting a runner in scoring position for Jung, who ripped a single to center field to score Sanchez and make it 5-4. The score would quickly change to 7-4 thanks to a two-run blast over the right field wall from Davis on the next pitch, his fourth homer of the year. 

It marked the fourth-straight game a Red Raider has hit a home run, totaling six over that stretch, making it the first time since April 4-19, 2015, a Tech team has accomplished the feat. That year’s squad tallied nine games in-a-row with at least one dinger.

The Lobos walked the bases full in the bottom of the sixth after issuing free passes to Gardner, Sanchez and Little. After a pitching change, UNM’s catcher attempted a pickoff of Little at first base, but sent the ball over the infielder and into right field, allowing Gardner and Sanchez to scoot home & push Tech to a 9-4 advantage. 

The Red Raiders plated three more in the bottom of the eighth behind a two-out, two-RBI double down the right field line from Jung. The knock plated Farhat and Sanchez, who reached via a walk and infield single, respectively. An RBI-single from Davis back up the middle brought around Jung for the 12-4 lead.

Tech faces another quick turnaround, heading to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on Kansas State on April 13-15, to continue Big 12 action before Easter Sunday.

(Courtesy: Texas Tech Media Relations Department)