Two teams with pistols in their culture found themselves in a duel of a different sort Friday night as their starting pitchers fired one strikeout after another to the tune of 18 between them in a marquee Big 12 matchup. For the Red Raiders (14-4), it was Brandon Birdsell who fanned nine Cowboys (12-3-1) on the evening en route to turning in his best outing of 2021 going 7 innings for Tech and dealing straight gas up to 96 mph. Unfortunately, it was also Birdsell who earned his first loss of the season, falling to 2-1, as the Red Raiders were shut out at home for the first time since 2018.
“I was able to land my breaking ball really well tonight. Once I established it for a strike I was able to throw the fastball and get more late swings, you know strikes looking,” explained Birdsell of what was working. “I was really mixing the curveball and the fastball and every now and then a slider. I was just able to mix it well.”
Levi Wells also turned in a strong relief performance for Tech tossing 2 innings of scoreless hitless baseball with a single strikeout.
Parker Scott started on the bump for Oklahoma State and did much of the same, also fanning nine and actually surrendering more hits (6) than Birdsell (2). Scott did re-enter in the eighth, but following back-to-back singles to Dru Baker and Jace Jung, was pulled with 106 pitches in the book. Brand Standlee checked in for the Cowboys and earned his third save of the season working out of trouble left behind by Scott.
Birdsell saw one inning make the difference in the contest as the ‘Pokes scratched two across with one out in the fifth. Following a leadoff strikeout, Scott’s sixth, Noah McLean hit a lazy double into shallow right-center field and Kurt Wilson’s diving effort came up empty. A catcher’s interference followed, the Red Raiders’ only error of the evening, as Caeden Trenkle’s swing hit Braxton Fulford’s glove for an E2 and a free base. Birdsell worked a groundout for the second out and then the shenanigans came calling.
Following a two-out RBI infield single, the Cowboys executed a double-steal of second and home. Trenkle’s slide made it between Fulford’s legs to complete the steal of home, the second in the ballpark this week. Fulford’s quick reaction to catch Sifrit looking at second ended in a 2-4-5-6 rundown to end the frame, but the damage was done and the only two runs of the night had scored.
Fulford, who struggled at the plate Friday, did have another strong defensive game as he gunned down McLean in the second to end the frame with a caught stealing. Fulford was tested again in the eighth and once again came out victorious. This toss bounced in low as it skimmed the top of a ducking Wells. Jung applied a heads-up second tag as the runner, Noah Sifrit, overslid the bag and review upheld the out called on the field.
Texas Tech found success at the plate at times, particularly with Baker, who went 3-for-5, including a single to lead off the game. Jung was another bright spot, going 2-for-4. The Red Raiders tallied 6 hits on the evening, the second time in 2021 they’ve outhit their opponent in a loss, the other being against Ole Miss over opening weekend. Tech left 10 runners stranded tonight and situational hitting ended up being the struggle. The Red Raiders left the bases loaded twice and ended up going 0-for-7 on the evening with runners in scoring position and 1-11 with two outs.
Head Coach Tim Tadlock tipped his cap to Oklahoma State’s combined pitching from Parker Scott and Brandon Standlee, who earned the save.
“I thought they had a great plan, I thought they mixed really well. I thought they exposed basically some poor approaches possibly, which is on me, with men in scoring position. I mean Parker Scott’s been in the league six years and it showed tonight, he’s a cool cat.”
The Red Raiders will be back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. with Patrick Monteverde set to get the start opposite of Justin Wrobleski.
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