The Terrible Towels were waving as the loudest section at Monongalia County Ballpark weren’t there to see the hometown team but rather the hometown boy – or at least as close to hometown as the Red Raiders are going to get for Patrick Monteverde.
The Pittsburgh, PA native was welcomed by a contingent of around 40 loved ones and hometown fans who traveled an hour south from Pittsburgh to see the lefty start in his first Friday start for the Red Raiders. He did not disappoint.
Monteverde opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning and after three uncharacteristic walks in the 2nd, retired eight batters in a row before he faced another baserunner. In the 5th, two baserunners were eliminated by a fielder’s choice force out at 2nd and Monteverde then retired three more in order in the 6th, capped off by a brilliant charging field-and-throw by Parker Kelly on a short chopper.
Monteverde’s final frame started with a leadoff double, but in true form, he locked back in for back-to-back strikeouts, his 6th and 7th, and a groundout to end 7 stellar innings of work. He finished the day with 7 strikeouts, 3 walks, and 2 hits in 95 pitches.
Offensively the Red Raiders gave Monteverde an ever-growing cushion to work with. Easton Murrell, batting leadoff, reached on an error at third base to start the game and came home almost immediately on an RBI double to the left-field wall by Braxton Fulford. Fulford went 3-for-4 on the evening and finished just a double shy of hitting for the 7th cycle in Texas Tech history. He reached in the 8th after being plunked in the elbow.
Fulford’s biggest swing of the night was a 2-run bomb into the Red Raiders’ left-field bullpen to give Tech the 5-0 advantage. The first home run of Fulford’s college career was a 2018 shot out of Monongalia County Ballpark and he touched ’em all on his 12th (and 7th of the season) in the same venue. Fulford’s first hit of the day, a triple, was his second three-bagger of 2021.
Parker Kelly was the only other Red Raider to book a multi-hit game as he went 2-for-4 with a double in the 4th and a walk as well. As per usual, Kelly was excellent defensively.
Tech carried a shutout into the bottom of the 9th but Josh Sanders struggled a bit. Following a leadoff strikeout, his second, a rule-book double down the right-field line put a runner in scoring position. He worked a flyout to center field which saw a nice ranging catch by Dillon Carter but gave up three consecutive hits, the first of which scored the baserunner and broke the shutout.
Texas Tech Head Coach Tim Tadlock let Sanders work through his own issues, however, and following a soft HBP, he worked his third strikeout for the final out of the cold evening in the east.
It was a new-look Red Raiders lineup and rotation as the injury bug has bitten Texas Tech as it has much of the country. The Red Raiders lost Brandon Birdsell for a significant portion of the season remaining with a non-surgical rotator cuff strain. As a result, Patrick Monteverde moved into the Friday role, Micah Dallas will take over Saturday, and Mason Montgomery, who was brilliant in relief last weekend, will resume Sunday starting duties.
The lineup has seen changes as well. Easton Murrell has taken over the leadoff spot and right field. Dru Baker, who has been sidelined since the April 1 series opener in Manhattan, re-entered the lineup batting in the five-hole and taking over left field for Kurt Wilson. The Arlington Martin product broke his thumb sliding into third base against TCU, he had surgery Monday to repair the damage.
Dillon Carter remains in center field, although that now appears to be a permanent move as Dylan Neuse will miss the remainder of the season with a significant back injury. At this point, the Red Raiders have lost three pitchers to season-ending injuries, another with an undetermined recovery time, now two key pieces in the field to long-term injuries as well.
But as they demonstrated against the previously 12-14, 4-5 Mountaineers, even thin the Red Raiders are are still an above-average team with plenty left to prove.
Texas Tech will look for the series win on Saturday behind the right arm of Micah Dallas at 3 p.m. CST.
TTU32