LUBBOCK – The idea of a pitcher’s duel against Houston Baptist University (1-4) probably wasn’t at the top of mind for the Red Raider faithful as they made their way to Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park on Saturday. Texas Tech (2-3) took down the Huskies 18-3 in the series and home opener that saw the Red Raiders outhit the Huskies 21-5 on Friday. But things started in a defensive battle that didn’t see a run scored until the bottom of the fourth.
Patrick Monteverde, who started on the bump for the Red Raiders, is maintaining an ERA of 0.00 after 4.0IP last weekend against Arkansas and a line today of 7.0IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 9K. The lefthander was efficient all day allowing only two baserunners and, with the help of the defense, retiring the Huskies in order six of his seven tries.
“The trust level is extremely high. We’ve been on the field together I believe since the first week of September, intrasquadding and getting used to each other,” explained Monteverde. “We’re a very tight group, even through COVID. Through and through we’re a good bunch together on and off the field. There’s a lot of trust.”
In all, the Red Raiders tallied a dozen strikeouts combined from their two pitchers as Brendan Girton finished with 2.0IP, 3H, R, ER, 0BB, HBP, 3K. Texas Tech did not walk a batter all day and the only free pass offered came in the ninth on a glancing blow off the batter’s bicep into the mask of home plate umpire Trey Plummer.
For Houston Baptist, starter Jacob Coats went 5.0IP, 5H, 3R, 3ER, 4W, 2WP, 2K. The Huskies’ bullpen also struggled in relief, but Jared Burch, who entered in the sixth, walked in with a 135.00 ERA and improved 31.50 despite giving up 3 runs.
Tech’s offense got rolling in the fourth inning when Kurt Wilson worked a 10-pitch at-bat (Tech’s second of the weekend), and was brought home by a Nate Rombach single to left field, Braydon Runion moved Rombach to third on a bloop double to right field, and both were brought in by a Cody Masters double to center, his first of two extra base hits on the day. The 3-0 lead built in the first would have been plenty, but Tech wasn’t done yet.
Ultimately, the Red Raiders scratched across five more runs and, following a day that saw them hit six homeruns, neither team left the yard. But Tech did tally 5 doubles coming from Masters (2), Runion, Rombach, and Cal Conley. The shortstop’s double was of the rule-book variety as he was called back from third base when the ball bounced into the netting below the scoreboard in right center field.
“Our lineup’s pretty awesome to be a part of. We’ve got guys who can bang it, guys who can bunt, run, steal,” said Conley. “Most of the time when I’m up, there’s guys on so there’s more holes in the field, so it makes it a little easier. It’s a pretty fun offense to be a part of.”
Defensively things settled down for the Red Raiders as they posted their first error-free day of the season and saw the lineup experimentation slow. One notable change was a start behind the dish for Cole Stilwell, the fifth of his career in the red and black. The sophomore from Rockwall hadn’t caught a game for Tech since May 24, 2019 against Kansas in the Big 12 tournament.
A strong defensive performance with stars in the scorebook for Dru Baker and Runion, double-digit hits (11), and every Red Raider finding their way on base was the top-to-bottom performance observers have come to expect from Texas Tech Baseball under Head Coach Tim Tadlock. A series getting right against Houston Baptist seems to be what the Red Raiders needed to refocus their play in the field and approach at the plate.
“Guys are trying to do a good job moving on the right pitch,” said Tadlock. “The ballpark played a little tougher today, we didn’t have much to show for the plate appearances we had early. Guys stuck with it for the most part…offense is about guys winning pitches.”
Texas Tech will look for the series sweep and to improve to .500 on the season tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
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