The No. 2 Texas Tech baseball team was edged out by No. 15 Oklahoma, 5-4, on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth on a rainy Sunday afternoon at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
The Red Raiders (25-6, 4-2) rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the first inning to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the fourth inning. However, a run in the fifth by Oklahoma (25-6, 4-2) tied the game at four and remained that way until OU’s Mendenhall began the final frame with a solo home run to win it.
Sophomore righty Ryan Shetter got the start for the Red Raiders in Sunday’s rubber-match, going 4.0 innings against Oklahoma. Shetter gave up three runs on three hits, allowing both for the third time this season. Junior Jacob Patterson came in for the fifth inning and an error allowed OU to tie the game up at four. Another junior, right-hander Jose Quezada, tossed 2.2 innings, picking up three strikeouts and working his way out of an eighth-inning jam with a runner on third and one away. Quezada moved to 3-2 this season after giving up the game winner.
Junior infielder Orlando Garcia and freshman infielder Josh Jung both came away with two hits in Sunday’s series finale. Garcia also picked up an RBI and two runs scored, as Tech posted eight hits as a unit.
Oklahoma struck first in the opening frame, scoring three runs with two outs. A single up the middle with runners on the corners pushed across Hollas for the first run of the inning, while a double from Martinez to right field cleared the bases for the early 3-0 lead.
Tech got one back in the top of the third as Garcia kicked off the inning with a double to the gap in left-center field. A sacrifice bunt from Farhat moved him over to third and a diving first baseman on a Long grounder brought Garcia across home to make it 3-1.
Berglund opened the top of the fourth with his second home run of the season, launching a solo blast over the right field wall to pull the game to 3-2. With two away, Davis came a foot away from tying the game, ripping a double off the yellow stripe on the left-center field wall for a stand-up double. Garcia would make sure the game would be knotted up in his next at-bat after pushing a single up the middle to score Davis.
A stolen base from Garcia during Farhat’s at-bat would prove to be beneficial, as Farhat’s liner to center field was mishandled by the sliding outfielder, allowing Garcia to easily score and give Tech its first lead of the day at 4-3.
OU knotted it back up at four with a run in the bottom of the fifth. An error by Davis at 2nd allowed Hollas to reach first to open the frame, then a one-out single set up runners on the corners for Walker, who hit into a fielder’s choice and beat out the throw to first on a potential double play to safely score Hollas.
Sunday’s decision was the first walk-off loss for Tech this season.
The Red Raiders return to action on Tuesday, April 4, in a midweek road tilt at New Mexico State, squaring off with the Aggies at 2 p.m. CDT at Presley Askew Field.
(COURTESY TEXAS TECH SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT)
