LUBBOCK – Tim Tadlock has never been too concerned with raising eyebrows with his coaching decisions, so too were Red Raider fans not shy on social media with their surprise to see Brandon Birdsell listed in the starting rotation in place of Micah Dallas for Tech’s home opener. Birdsell, who appeared in relief of Patrick Monteverde last Saturday against Arkansas, struggled to find the strike zone, and after walking in a run, was pulled after 2/3 of a inning.
“I kind of just got lost on Saturday, lost what I’d been practicing, what I’d been working on,” explained Birdsell of his performance in Arlington. “Throughout this week really just focused on a couple of things to improve on from last week and, it’s just what we’re going to do from here on out is just keep improving every week.”
Whatever the focuses for improvement were in the three days of practice between the final game in Arlington and today’s home opener, they were just what the doctor ordered for Red Raider Baseball, and Birdsell, as they upended the Houston Baptist Huskies (1-3) 18-3 in a game that was moved up to a 2:00 p.m. start due to potential Friday night weather.
Birdsell earned the win in the run-rule shortened contest and finished with 4.1 IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 1BB, 2K on his line. The JUCO transfer Sophomore bumped 98mph on the Dan Law Field radar gun and also found success with his breaking ball as he slid it through the strike zone at 82mph and commanded it well.
“Today I was really just wanting to command the fastball, get ahead in the count, just put together good at bats and be competitive,” said Birdsell.
The flashy news of the day were six homeruns collectively hammered out of the yard by Jace Jung (2), Cole Stilwell, Cal Conley, Nate Rombach, and Braydon Runion. The dingers accounted for 13 of the Red Raiders’ 18 runs scored and pointed to a release of frustration stemming from the weekend before.
Dru Baker, who has batted leadoff in three of Tech’s four games, and Jung, who moved up to second in the order against HBU today, went a combined 6-9, 4R, 4RBI, 2HR, establishing a potentially potent table-setting 1-2 punch at the top of the lineup.
Jung addressed the mentality of the team walking into this weekend, and it’s indicative of the offensive approach which has become a hallmark of Red Raider teams under Tadlock.
“I think the whole team has just had a chip on our shoulder today. And it was even bigger because of what happened last weekend. We didn’t like the outcomes of last weekend and we wanted to make sure this weekend was totally different,” said Jung. “We came out with that mindset of just attacking, attacking, and not backing down.”
The Red Raiders’ aggressive offensive mentality saw them put three of six leadoff hitters either aboard or touching them all in Baker (1st), Conley (2nd), Jung (4th) as Tech outhit the Huskies 21-5 while only leaving 4 men stranded all day. Tech went down in order only once, coming in their final chance in the bottom of the sixth inning.
“Really all you can base your success on is ‘are you moving on the right pitch?'” said Tadlock, “We did that some, did it more than we didn’t do it. Hitting’s not easy, it’s not as easy as these guys made it look today.”
It was also a new look lineup for the team as JUCO transfer Runion earned his first start in the field and Kurt Wilson got another try at third base later in the game. In the waning innings, the Red Raiders played with an almost entirely different defensive lineup following multiple pinch hitters and defensive substitutions which saw Baker move to 2B, Drew Woodcox at 1B, Parker Kelly get a try at SS, Max Marusak take over CF, and Cody Masters at DH.
“I think we’re getting there,” said Tadlock. “These guys are a hardworking bunch, Birdsell went out and set the tone today, it was really fun to watch him throw.”
The Red Raiders will be back in action Saturday, February 27 at 2:00 p.m. with an opportunity to win their first series of 2021.
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