No. 3 Texas Tech baseball climbed out of a three-run hole with five unanswered runs to defeat Oregon, 6-4, on Sunday at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park and gain a 2-1 advantage in the four-game series.
The Red Raiders (2-1) were down 4-2 in the sixth inning until sophomore Tanner O’Tremba blasted his first career home run as a Red Raider over the right field fence to tie the game, and Josh Jung drove in the go-ahead run an inning later with an RBI single.
It marks Tech’s second-consecutive win when trailing after five innings as the Red Raiders captured Saturday’s win after trailing 8-0 in the first and 10-7 through five.
Oregon starter Cullen Kafka kept the Red Raiders scoreless through the first three frames before junior Doug Facendo drew a two-out walk in the fourth, and sophomore Dylan Neuse drove him in with a triple to the corner in right.
The Ducks (1-2) would add a run in the fifth to take a 4-1, but it was all Red Raiders from there. Jung singled in catcher Braxton Fuflford in the fifth to make it a two-run game before O’Tremba evened the score at 4-4 with an opposite field blast in the sixth.
Tech went in front in the seventh after sophomore Gabe Holt and freshman Dru Baker led off the inning with walks and pulled a double steal to put runners on second and third. Jung capitalized with a single through the left side to score Holt, and junior Brian Klein would bring in Baker with a sacrifice fly to center.
Freshman lefty Mason Montgomery delivered four solid innings in his Red Raider debut, yielding three runs on six hits with a strikeout and a walk. The Red Raider bullpen finished it off from there with four scoreless frames to close out the game.
Junior right-hander Connor Queen (1-0) recorded his second career win for the Red Raiders after he closed out the top of the seventh. Queen struck out one and forced a groundout as he combined with junior lefty Dane Haveman for 3.0 innings of work. Haveman recorded his longest relief outing as a Red Raider, tossing 2.1 innings of shutout ball. Junior RHP John McMillon picked up his first save of the season and helped secure the win for the Red Raiders by striking out two and forcing a groundout to end the game.
Oregon’s Robert Ahlstrom (1-1) picked up the loss in relief, giving up two runs in 1.0 frames off one hit and two walks. Kafka gave the Ducks a quality start, totaling 106 pitches in 5.1 innings before the Red Raiders were able to chase him in the fifth.
The Red Raiders will look to secure the series win against Oregon on Monday with the series finale set for 1 p.m. CT at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
COURTESY OF TEXAS TECH ATHLETICS
