The No. 6 Texas Tech baseball team battled back from an early deficit to earn a 12-8 victory and the series win over K-State on Saturday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium.
The Red Raiders (31-8, 8-4) fell behind 4-0 after two innings, but tied the game with a four-run burst in the third, then added five in the seventh to help put away the Wildcats (17-18, 2-10). It was the 11th game with 10 or more runs scored & the fifth-straight with 10 or more hits.
Every Red Raider in the starting lineup either drove in a run or crossed home plate in the series finale at K-State. Three recorded three-hit days in juniors Michael Davis & Orlando Garcia and senior Kholeton Sanchez, while sophomore Cody Farhat had a two-hit performance. Sanchez & Jung each had multi-RBI afternoons, with Sanchez tallying a three-run double & Jung a two-run homer.
Sophomore right-hander Ryan Shetter made his ninth start of the year in Saturday’s getaway day, but only managed 2.0 innings, allowing four runs on three hits and an error. Shetter gave way to freshman RHP Caleb Kilian, who tossed 3.0 frames of scoreless relief to improve to 3-0 this season. Junior lefty Dylan Dusek recorded his second save of the year after pitching the final 2.0 innings.
Tech also put together a great day in the field, turning a season-high four double plays along with several catches in the outfield to take away bases from the Wildcats.
K-State got on the board first in the opening frame thanks to a two-run home run from Scudder with two outs. Brennan began the inning with a walk, then was moved to second thanks to an error in the next at-bat to Crandall. A 4-6-3 double play erased Crandall and put two away before Scudder’s homer.
The Wildcats added two more in the next inning, also with two away, behind a single from Brennan to make it 4-0. McMaster got the inning going with a double down the left field line, then was moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt from Barfield. After a strikeout to Rolette to put two down, a walk to Ethier & a stolen base put two in scoring position for Brennan, who’s single to left-center cleared the bases for the 4-0 lead.
Tech picked up a four-spot in the third to knot the game up at four. The first Red Raider run was put on the board thanks to a solo homer from Farhat to center field. It was the second-straight game he had launched a dinger and the seventh consecutive game for the Red Raiders to tally at least one.
The runs wouldn’t stop there as Jung collected his first collegiate home run two batters later with a two-run bomb into the trees in left field to make it 4-3. Jung’s dinger drove in Sanchez, who followed Farhat’s home run with a single to center field.
With the bases clear again, Davis delivered a double to right-center, then was brought home with two away on a single from Garcia to complete the four-run third inning. It was the 19th time this season Tech has scored four or more runs in a single frame.
Tech took the lead in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI grounder from Gardner, putting the Red Raiders up, 5-4. The inning began with a throwing error by the shortstop on a grounder up the middle from Jung. A walk to Hargrove and a single from Garcia loaded the bases for Gardner, who knocked in Jung to take the lead.
The Red Raiders added to their lead in the top of the seventh with five runs to make it 10-4. Jung led off the frame with a walk, then was moved to second by a Davis single through the right side. Hargrove brought them both in thanks to a single up the middle that was misplayed by the center fielder, allowing Hargrove to move up to second on the two-RBI play.
With two gone, a pair of walks to Long & Farhat loaded the bases for Sanchez, who roped a double to the left field wall for the three-RBI play. It was the 20th time this season & second time on Saturday to plate four or more runs in an inning.
K-State took back a few runs in the bottom half of the inning behind a two-run homer from Rolette. His home run drove in Barfield, who began the frame with a single up the middle, bringing the deficit Red Raider advantage down to 10-6. Junior lefty Parker Mushinski took over in the middle of the frame and with the bases loaded, induced a 6-4-3 double play to put two away, giving the Wildcats another to make it 10-7. Mushinski would end the frame with a called-strike three.
Tech added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth to push the score up to 12-7. After a leadoff double to the right field corner from Garcia, a sacrifice bunt from Gardner moved him over to third, while a single from Long scored him. After back-to-back singles from Farhat & Sanchez, Little hit a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Long for the second run of the frame.
The Wildcats threated in the bottom of the ninth, scoring a run with a two-out double from Crandall to left-center to make it 12-8. However, with two in scoring position, Dusek struck out Scudder to close out the game.
The Red Raiders hit the road for a midweek showdown with New Mexico State on Tuesday, April 18, at Security Bank Ballpark in Midland.
