Mason Molina (1-0) got the start for the #24 Red Raiders (2-0) Saturday against Gonzaga (0-2) and wasted little time exerting his dominance over the veteran bats of the Bulldogs. The sophomore from California booked a strikeout per inning through his first three and booked two apiece in the fourth and fifth frames. He faced only three hitters over the minimum in his five-inning appearance en route to a 10-3 victory.
Gonzaga, who lost several marquee pitchers from their 2022 squad to the MLB Draft, boasted seven returners in the field, but the veteran presence has not yet provided the Bulldogs with an advantage over Tech pitching. For the second straight day, a Texas Tech pitcher went at least five innings allowing only one hit. Friday night that was Brendan Girton in relief and Saturday it was the starter, Molina who turned in a line of 5.0 innings, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 7K in his outing.
Everything seemed to be working for Molina Saturday, using a mix of fastball, slider, changeup, and curve.
“It was a combination of everything,” said Molina “I was able to land the off-speed stuff and focus on the strikes and so, it kind of kept them off-balance pretty much the whole game.”
🖐️ Ks through four frames for @masonmolinaa
B4 | Tech 2, Zags 0 pic.twitter.com/SLm9W9ajc2
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) February 18, 2023
Molina was relieved by freshman Taber Fast, who turned in two scoreless innings with two strikeouts, Jase Lopez also turned in an inning of work and started strong with two strikeouts of the first three hitters, but a walk and three hits followed that resulted in three Gonzaga runs before getting out of the inning with a groundout.
Highly-touted freshman Zane Petty, who was one of two in the class that made it to campus taken in the MLB Draft (13th Round, Brewers), tossed the final inning. Petty went 1-2-3 with a lineout, groundout, and punctuated the game and his first appearance with a ꓘ, the first of his collegiate career.
Offensively the Red Raiders produced 10 hits for the second game in a row in this young season, this time producing 10 runs. Overall the jitters appeared to be gone and 1-9 in the lineup Texas Tech put together consistently competitive at-bats. They benefited from a baker’s dozen free passes – 11 walks and two hit batsmen. Nolen Hester was particularly productive in that department with a hit and three walks, ultimately coming around to score on all of the walks.
Hester, a fifth-year transfer from Wofford College, has been mentioned by Molina as “a miserable at-bat” for everyone on the pitching staff.
“I’ve been doing this for five years now and I wouldn’t describe myself as a ‘dangerous hitter,’ but when I go up there I have an approach that I’ve stuck to for a long time and I’ve worked really hard on refining it,” explained Hester. “My goal when I get in the box is to get to first base, no matter what. Whether it’s going up there and hitting the ball hard or going up there and drawing out a walk. When I’m in the box I just try to have a pitch that I really look for and if it’s not there then I’ll let it go and I’ll take walks when they give it to me.”
So far as a Red Raider, Hester is 3-5 with a double, 4 walks, and 4 runs in both games as the leadoff hitter.
Freshman Gage Harrelson started again in center field and booked his first two collegiate hits, the first a comebacker off the calf of 6-7 Gonzaga reliever Jack Moffitt. Harrelson ended the day 2-5 with a walk and a run scored. He joined Austin Green as the two Tech hitters today booking multiple hits.
Freshman Dylan Maxcey also had a day of firsts with his first start behind the plate and his first hit, and first RBI.
😅@Dmaxcey1 | #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/1qEa6XovHM
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) February 19, 2023
Ty Coleman also booked his first extra-base hit of the season, a 2-RBI double to contribute to Tech’s five-run sixth inning that broke the game open.
Coleman, Green, and Kevin Bazzell all turned in multi-RBI days.
One more attribute of the 2023 Red Raiders on display Saturday was their speed both in the field and on the basepaths. They put pressure on Gonzaga pitchers and benefited from two stolen bases and four wild pitches. The brand of baseball that comes with elite speed can be very fun, and I asked Head Coach Tim Tadlock if that can make the game more fun from a coaching standpoint.
“Oh absolutely,” said Tadlock. “It’s always fun when you can apply pressure and when you know a guy hits a ground ball and there’s going to be pressure on the infielders, that’s really where it starts, and the ability to take an extra base. So absolutely yea, it’s a lot of fun.”
The fun will continue for the Red Raiders as they face Gonzaga Sunday at 1:00 PM looking for the series win in the third of the four-game stand. The fully produced broadcast will be available on Big 12 Now on ESPN+, Double T 97.3 FM, and The Varsity App. TTU02Box
