PHOENIX – The #4 Texas Tech Red Raiders (24-8) fell to the Grand Canyon Antelopes (20-11) Wednesday 7-8, a loss that follows a 4-9 loss on Tuesday and another Sunday against Kansas to push the Red Raiders into their first three-game losing streak since losing the final two at Kansas State (April 2-3) and the series opener against TCU (April 9) in 2021.
Tuesday, Easton Murrell led off the game with his fourth leadoff home run of the season, he followed with another solo jack to lead off the third inning and Jace Jung added a solo shot of his own in the ninth. It was Murrell’s first multi-homerun game of the year and Jung, who went 3-4 with a walk, was once again one hit (triple) shy of the cycle. Otherwise, the Red Raiders were held quiet throughout the evening. Parker Kelly had Tech’s only other extra-base hit, a one-out double in the fourth and Kurt Wilson the only other RBI, a single in the fifth that scored Jung, who reached on a leadoff walk.
Chase Hampton got the start for the Red Raiders but found himself with trouble early after an HBP put the leadoff man aboard and a one-out single added a second base runner. Cleanup hitter Tyler Wilson deposited a home run into the Texas Tech bullpen in right field to give the Antelopes a three-run lead and they never looked back. Hampton gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and lasted only three innings. Hampton missed his last start with a non-Covid illness and his recovered stamina may have suffered as a result.
The Red Raiders’ struggles were apparent in their situational hitting as they went 0-7 with two outs, 0-5 with runners on third with less than two outs, 0-1 with bases loaded, 3-18 with runners on base, and 2-11 with runners in scoring position. Additionally, tempers flared for the Red Raiders in the final frame. Cole Stilwell led off the ninth and was rung up on a pitch high and inside. Stilwell showed his frustration by hitting his bat on the plate and pulling off his shin guard. He was tossed by home plate umpire Rob McKinley drawing the ire of Texas Tech Assistant Coach J-Bob Thomas who charged in from the third-base coaching box. McKinley’s hook came quickly for Thomas who was tossed as well.
There is history between the Red Raiders and McKinley. He was the home plate umpire in Albuquerque in 2017 when the Red Raiders came to town to face the New Mexico Lobos. Head Coach Tim Tadlock was ejected by McKinley and ultimately received a two-game suspension for not leaving the ballpark quickly enough.
On Wednesday, it was a new-look lineup for Tech as Stilwell was unavailable due to the ejection. Ty Coleman saw his first start at first base, Trevor Conley got the nod behind the dish, and Cody Masters saw his first start of the season in the two-hole as the designated hitter.
The Red Raiders jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Coleman knocked a one-out single up the middle scoring Murrell who led off with a walk. Grand Canyon responded with a solo home run to lead off the second inning again by Wilson, his second home run in as many days. Tech answered in the top of the third when Jung pounded a one-out single, Coleman followed with a single, and an E5 moved Jung to third. An RBI sacrifice fly from Wilson scored Jung.
From there though, it was all GCU as back-to-back extra-base hits and a sacrifice foul fly scored two in the bottom of the third. They tacked on two more with a two-out home run in the fourth, a solo jimmy jack and RBI fielder’s choice in the seventh, and an RBI single in the eighth pushed the lead to 8-2. They were aided by effective relief pitching, notably 2.1 innings from Brodie Cooper-Vassalakis, who retired all seven Tech hitters he faced in order, striking out six.
The Red Raiders mounted a late rally in the ninth inning aided in part by two errors in the first three batters of the frame. With bases loaded and no outs, Jung struck first with an RBI fielder’s choice scored Tech’s third run and the bases remained loaded with no outs. A two-RBI double by Coleman made it 5-8 and an RBI groundout from Wilson and sacrifice fly from Washburn left Tech trailing by one with two outs. Coleman’s two-base knock was the only extra-base hit of the day for Tech.
Kelly stepped in and pounded a single high off of the left-field wall. Kelly read the play and looked to extend to a double, but left-fielder Cade Verdusco played the bell well off of his home park’s monster and gunned Kelly down at second base to end the game.
Andrew Devine got the start for the Red Raiders, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits in his three innings of work. Relief pitching gave up five more runs with only Mason Molina holding the Antelopes scoreless in one inning of work on a bullpen day for the Sunday starter.
Texas Tech was 8-1 in midweek matchups coming into Phoenix, and while losses are never ideal for Tech, losing true road games to a Top 40 RPI team is not as heavy a hit as it may appear at first glance. According to WarrenNolan.com, Texas Tech’s RPI moved from #16 down to #18 with the Tuesday loss and settled at #21 after the Wednesday loss. Grand Canyon, which started at #40, moved up to #29 Wednesday night. The victories over Texas Tech are not the only quality victories for GCU in 2022. The Antelopes previously took down #11 Arizona in a midweek matchup in Tucson in February and split a midweek series with #5 Oregon State in Corvallis in March.
Texas Tech will return to Lubbock for their third Big 12 series of the season hosting the Kansas State Wildcats (15-13, 1-5) this weekend. First pitch for the Friday game is scheduled for 6:30 pm. The live stream will be available on ESPN+ with the radio call available on Double T 97.3 FM and in their listening area, as well as through The Varsity Network App.
405TTUTTU32 box score of the season and
