It was a cool evening in Lubbock with the wind blowing firmly in from the outfield. Brendan Girton got his first start in a Red Raider uniform and fans were treated to what looked like the majority of the town of Shattuck, Oklahoma in the stands to cheer him on. The letter jackets were on full display combatting the chill in the air.
“I’m just thankful my coach from back home decided to make the drive. As soon as I told him I was starting Tuesday he was like ‘we’re bussing,'” explained Girton. “They actually had a game today but they canceled it because I was starting today. So it’s actually pretty cool.”
Girton tossed four full innings of shutout baseball with a single strikeout as well.
The thermometer wasn’t the only thing unseasonably cold Tuesday as Red Raider bats struggled to warm up in a midweek pitcher’s duel against Stephen F. Austin at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. A Cole Stillwell sac fly to score Easton Murrell was the only run of the ballgame until Tech plated two more in the seventh, taking advantage of two hit batsmen to finally string together their first back-to-back hits of the evening. Those knocks came from red-hot Jace Jung and Stilwell.
The slow offensive action wasn’t for lack of trying as the Red Raiders continued working to scratch across runs throughout the game. Jung was caught stealing home in the third inning, picked off at third from right field trying to take advantage of an error by the pitcher in the fifth, and thrown out on a 7-6-2 relay in the seventh.
But for those hanging in to enjoy the 3-0 ballgame late, the blood-pumping action came in the ninth and when their backs were against the wall, the Red Raiders responded.
Andrew Devine entered the game in the save opportunity and appeared poised to complete the task after a quick groundout and flyout had the Lumberjacks on the ropes with two outs. But a walk, hit-by-pitch, and another walk loaded the bases and saw Devine give way to Derek Bridges.
The side-arming lefty sent an 0-1 pitch to pinch-hitter Kade Clemens who sent it screaming past a diving Parker Kelly down the left-field line and suddenly the Red Raiders’ 3-0 lead turned into a 3-3 ballgame with the go-ahead run on second base.
Chase Webster entered and worked a flyout to end the frame and Texas Tech went from winning time to walk-off time.
Braxton Fulford lined a one-out single into left field and the hero of the top of the inning lost his luster as Clemens booted the ball twice to move Fulford to second. Jung was intentionally walked, something Red Raider fans should probably get used to seeing, and after a wild pitch moved Fulford and Jung up 90 feet, Stilwell received the Bonds treatment as well. Then, enter Cal Conley.
The hero of Saturday’s walk-off victory over TCU was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List this week. An honor carrying the name of a Red Raider great and bestowed upon the nation’s best shortstop by the College Baseball Foundation.
What happened next can’t hurt Conley’s chances to become a semifinalist as he poked a 2-2 offering through the left side to plate Fulford and win the ballgame, the second walk-off hit in three games for Conley.
“He did, he shortened everything up and put a ball in play,” said Texas Tech Head Coach Tim Tadlock. “Really cool.”
Conley was also exceptional defensively when the ball came his way, particularly late in the game. Two outs in the eighth were to Conley, one extremely deep in the hole. Conley contorted and gloves it against all odds and somehow delivered it to first base for the out with the help of Stillwell’s stretch and pick.
“Yeah, I let go of the ball I knew it wasn’t going to get there, I kind of tripped over my feet getting up. I knew Stilwell was going to pick it…He in practice works pretty hard, him and Gute [Eric Gutierrez] get after it over there on picks and stuff every day so I had a pretty good feeling he was going to pick me up there.”
The Red Raiders are scheduled to play Stephen F. Austin at 1 p.m. on Wednesday. Weather and travel conditions may force changes in those plans and starting pitchers have yet to be announced by either team.
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