The No. 3 Texas Tech baseball team closed out the weekend set at No. 5 Kentucky with a 5-3 victory on Sunday afternoon at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The Red Raiders (15-2) scored five runs on a pair of homers, while holding the Wildcats (14-3) to three runs on five hits to end the series with a win.
Freshman right-hander Ryan Sublette picked up his second start of the season, going 2.1 innings for the Red Raiders on Sunday. The Lemont, Illinois, native retired the first seven batters he faced, before two runs and two hits came across in the third inning.
Sublette gave way to sophomore RHP Caleb Kilian, who put together a solid outing on his way to 3.1 IP, striking out five while giving up just one run on three hits. He earned the win, improving to 1-0 this season in his seventh appearance.
Senior lefty Dylan Dusek pitched a gem, going 3.0 frames, allowing just one baserunner in the form of a walk, while striking out five. With two gone in the ninth, he handed the ball over to another senior, right-hander Jose Quezada, who threw one pitch & induced a groundout to claim his first save of the year.
The Red Raiders put three on the board in the second inning to kick off the scoring. Sophomore Josh Jung & junior Cameron Warren reached to begin the frame via a HBP & a single to right field. With one away, sophomore John McMillon launched a no-doubter to the deck in right-center field for the 3-0 lead.
It was his first homer of the year and gave Tech its 15th game this season with at least one three-spot in an inning.
After two scoreless frames, the Wildcats broke through for two to cut the Tech lead to 3-2. With one out and seven-straight retired to begin the game, a single from Johnson & a walk to Dawson put two on for Squires, who snuck a double down the first base line to clear the bases.
The Red Raiders got the runs back in their next trip to the plate, as Holt lifted a two-run homer to the porch in right-center field to make it 5-2. Holt’s second home run of the year brought in Farhat, who sent a one-out single into left field, earlier in the frame as part of a three-hit day.
The Wildcats chipped away with one in the fifth. With runners on the corners and one out, Aklinski hit into a fielder’s choice, just beating out the throw at first on a potential double play that would’ve ended the inning. Instead, it let one run score & traded for the second out of the frame to cut the Tech lead to 5-3. That would be all of the scoring in the contest, as the Red Raiders thwarted the Wildcats at the plate to take the final game of the set.
The Red Raiders hit the road for a two-game midweek stint at No. 8 Louisville on March 13-14 at Jim Patterson Stadium.
COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS
