The Red Raiders found themselves in a tight ballgame against a strikeout machine Tuesday night and it was exceptional defensive play, vintage Micah Dallas, and a timely swing from Nate Rombach that earned Tech the win over Gonzaga.
Texas Tech took the lead early in the bottom of the first when Jace Jung sent a solo shot over the left-field wall for his Big 12-leading sixth home run of 2021. Jung touched ’em all twice on the same swing as he made his way around but turning at third base the umpire called the shot foul. After a meeting of the minds, it was called a homerun and Jung made the trot again. The freshman from San Antonio currently leads the Big 12 with 21 RBI on the season and notched 14 of those last week. The next closest in the conference has hit 15 overall.
That 1-0 lead was extended in the bottom of the third when Drew Woodcox worked a leadoff walk and Dylan Neuse brought him home with his second hit of the evening, this one with an RBI attached. Gonzaga was however not content to go quietly into the windy West Texas night. Catcher Tyler Rando closed the gap to one run with a solo no-doubter of his own into the left-field jet stream.
The Bulldogs put together a big seventh inning as well with a leadoff single by left-fielder Jack Machtlof followed by a one-out double by right-fielder Grayson Sterling. That double was swathed in controversy as a throw from Neuse to Jung for the tag on a sliding Sterling was initially called an out but then reviewed. Jung’s leg was blocking the bag so the out was reversed to a double and Jamie Hitt’s day came to an end following the long review and explanation delay.
Then things got a little sporting. First baseman Gabriel Hughes was replaced by a pinch hitter, Riley Livingston, who reached on a throwing error from third base as the toss hit Livingston coming into the bag. He was then replaced by pinch-runner Ryan Sullivan who stole second and was advanced to third by a wild pitch. Second baseman Mason Morenco worked a walk to turn the order over and center fielder Guthrie Morrison hit a comebacker to pitcher Levi Wells.
Wells immediately recognized the need and went home, the throwback from Braxton Fulford to third base resulted in a tagout there. The Red Raiders’ starting third baseman, Kurt Wilson, then tossed to Jace Jung at second base catching Morenco off the bag and Jung sent it back to Cal Conley covering third where he booked the second tagout and ended the frame.
“I thought it was a really good recognition by Levi that the guy was going to be going to stay out of the double play, even though the runner had started,” explained Head Coach Tim Tadlock. “Jace made a really good play recognizing that the guy was trying to get an extra 90 feet on the back end of the rundown.”
It was just your everyday, run-of-the-mill, 1-2-5-4-6 double play with two rundowns, in a one-run ballgame. It’s fair to say the atmosphere on this Tuesday night offering to start a 12-game homestand felt more like a Friday night in the Big 12 than a midweek game.
The defensive performance by Texas Tech was something specifically notable as the Red Raiders booked multiple web gems including a lineout to starting pitcher Dallas by the opening batter of the ballgame, another Conley highlight-reel play on a barehand grab and off-balance throw, and a diving glove-side lineout to Wilson as well.
“It’s just a lot of fun, especially when we’re having fun out there,” said Dallas. “They did a fantastic job, saving the runs, saving the game honestly. When we all come together and the ballgame’s moving like that, it’s just even more fun because it turns into a real team effort. We can feed off of that, I honestly think that carries over into the offense. It’s honestly a lot of fun just to be able to be myself up there.”
Dallas enjoyed the backup of a solid defense but had plenty to offer from the mound as well. In his 6 innings of work, Dallas improved upon his previous starts allowing no walks and notching four strikeouts. The defense did assist in holding earned runs to only one but it was undoubtedly his best outing of the season. Dallas also got in on the defensive fun as he took a hot lineout to open the game and a toss back to him covering home after a wild pitch saw him block the plate and catch the runner stealing for the 2-1 putout.
“I thought that Micah needed to be vintage Micah, and I thought he was. He was very good, very competitive,” said Tadlock.
The Red Raiders walked into their side of the seventh inning trailing 3-2 and still facing Bulldogs starter Alek Jacob. He earned his eleventh strikeout of the evening on leadoff man Braxton Fulford and was then replaced in the first of three pitching changes in the inning. Nico Zeglin entered and walked back-to-back Red Raiders, he was replaced in favor of Bradley Mullan who punched out Jace Jung but then walked Dylan Neuse to load the bases.
It was then Daniel Naughton’s turn. Naughton walked into a tough situation against a talented young hitter in Nate Rombach. The freshman from Mansfield Legacy has earned the nickname Romblast from fans who have marveled at his homerun power. But a year older and wiser, Rombach stepped into the box looking for the right pitch, not the long bomb. He turned on a 2-1 offering from Naughton, dropping it deftly into the left-center field gap and booking a 3-RBI bases-clearing double in what would turn out to be the go-ahead shot of the ballgame earning Tech a 5-3 lead.
Brendan Girton entered for Wells following a rough start to the eighth inning for him and was excellent for the Red Raiders the rest of the way. Girton was throwing straight cheese bumping 95 mph on the stadium radar gun. He brought the thunder in the ninth fanning two of the three he faced including a big swing and miss for the final out of the contest.
Texas Tech will look to carry this momentum and intensity into a Wednesday matchup concluding the Gonzaga midweek stand. That game has been moved back from 1 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. due to expected high winds and dust in the Lubbock area throughout the day. Chase Hampton is expected to start for Texas Tech in his second consecutive Wednesday start.
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