NORMAN – #21 Texas Tech (25-11, 6-5) scored 8 of their 9 runs in the third and fourth innings, a freshman went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBIs, a sophomore pounded his third home run of the series, and a Red Raider was again rung up on a clock violation – and none of those are the biggest storyline of Saturday’s game against Oklahoma (18-18, 3-8).
The Red Raiders put up a five-spot in the second and added three more in the third to flip a 2-0 Sooner lead into an 8-2 Tech lead. After Oklahoma plated three of their own in the bottom of the third to cut Tech’s lead down to three runs, Ryan Free (4-3) entered the game relieving Trendan Parish after a four-inning start, and the left-handed Tech legacy put on an absolute clinic.
Free retired the final 15 Sooner batters in order, tossing five perfect innings and more than doubling his career-high of four strikeouts with an impressive nine punchouts on the day, including five of the ꓘ variety. The length of his appearance was also a career-high, besting his previous long of three innings against TCU on April 2.
Free’s dominant performance is a welcome return to form for the lefty who’d posted seven appearances without surrendering an earned run earlier this season, but the last came March 19 against Oklahoma State. Now Free’s made back-to-back appearances without allowing an earned run against Stanford on Tuesday and now Saturday in Norman.
Nothing Free 💪
The final out in a masterful five innings of relief from Ryan Free. pic.twitter.com/cqOsk0e4vO
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) April 16, 2023
Extra-Inning Fireworks Propel Tech Past OU in Series Opener
For the second game in a row, a Red Raider batter was struck out due to a clock violation. Friday night it was Gage Harrelson with two men on in the ninth inning and Tech hanging onto a one-run lead. Saturday it was Kevin Bazzell in the seventh and it ended the inning. Head Coach Tim Tadlock came out to talk about it and had to run Bazzell off who was angry about the call and appealing his case to the umpire.
The broadcast didn’t provide any intelligent conversation, replay, or explanation. But on my own review, the pitcher had the ball in his glove and was looking at his pitch comm card. While the Red Raiders wear a bracelet or attach the pitch comm to their glove, the Sooners opt for a small card-sized device that pitchers keep in their back pockets.
So Bazzell was issued a strike for not being in the box ready to hit with 10 seconds remaining on the clock when the pitcher wasn’t only not on the rubber, he wasn’t even looking at the plate or anywhere close to delivering a pitch. The interpretation of that rule must be clarified for situations like this where a ham-handed application of the rules has caused two controversial situations in the same series.
Offensively for the Red Raiders, Bazzell had a big day booking 4 hits including 2 doubles and 2 RBIs. He set the table in the fourth inning with a two-out double and came home when Gavin Kash pounded his Big 12-leading sixteenth home run of the season. He also leads the conference in RBIs with 59 on the season.
Sat on it 😤
Hit No. 2 of the day for @KevinBazzell drives in two! pic.twitter.com/EWIf9Ydt3K
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) April 15, 2023
Ka$h Money 💸
Two yesterday, and one so far today for @Gavinkash6.
His Big 12-leading 16th of the year. pic.twitter.com/yqytnzTjzt
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) April 15, 2023
In addition to Bazzell and Kash, Zac Vooletich continued his production at the plate putting together a 3-for-5 day with a double. The senior has seven consecutive starts under his belt this season, dating back to the Friday matchup with North Dakota State. He’s hitting .385 with a .467 on-base percentage over that span.
The shutdown game-winning performance by Free was made even more important by the Sooner bullpen, who combined to hold Tech hitless and scoreless through the final three innings. They retired nine Tech batters in a row after two walks to start the seventh. Tech outhit the Sooners 13-5 on the day, but 9 of the Red Raiders’ hits came in the second through fourth innings, they would manage only four hits and one run between the fifth and sixth and they were shut down from there.
Tech provided a few defensive moments of their own, ending back-to-back innings early on pickoffs on the corners. Dylan Maxcey back-picked the baserunner at third base to get the final out in the second. Then in the third, Parish picked off leadoff man Anthony Mackenzie at first to end that inning.
#21 Texas Tech will go for the sweep over the Sooners on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm. If they can make it happen, that will be Tech’s first conference sweep on the road since May 13-15, 2022 at Oklahoma State. Tech’s series win Saturday marks their third in a row in Norman, and if they secure the sweep that’ll be two sweeps of their last series on the road against the Sooners.
The broadcast Sunday will be available on ESPN+, on Double T 97.3 FM in Lubbock, and on The Varsity App.
TTUBox36
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