ARLINGTON – Recurring problems in the early season can be camouflaged when the team in the other dugout perhaps isn’t at the same level from a talent or expectation perspective.
But when the same problems keep popping up against three foes ranked in the top-10, from a league where the highest rungs of the ladder are a perennial goal, they become a lot more glaring.
When Texas Tech tangled with No. 7/7 Mississippi State on Monday on the final day of the season-opening State Farm College Baseball Showdown, the Red Raiders encountered the same issues that pestered them the first two days.
In fact, those glitches were more persistent and came at worse times in an 11-5 loss to the Bulldogs.
Mississippi State broke open a back-and-forth battle with a 5-run top of the 9th inning, the third time in three games the No. 4/4 Red Raiders (0-3) have allowed a 5-run frame.
The Bulldogs produced four RBI hits in the final onslaught and finished with 12 hits in all.
But it wasn’t Mississippi State that proved most frustrating for Tech. It was the Red Raiders ongoing scuffles to produce when they had chances that haunted them – more so than in the first two games.
Tech scratched out only 6 hits – none in the first 3 innings, just one in the final 3 frames – but established a constant presence on the basepaths with 13 walks and four hit batters.
All that traffic should have given the Red Raiders a chance to take control at some point, and they did lead 4-3 after 5 innings. Instead, Tech consistently let the Bulldog pitchers off the hook by producing only 4 hits in 23 at-bats with runners on base.
“Hitting with men in scoring position, there has to be an approach, and ours wasn’t great,” Red Raider coach Tim Tadlock said.
“We just didn’t perform very well.”
The same can be said about another rocky day for Texas Tech’s bullpen, reminiscent of the Saturday meltdown against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Starter Mason Montgomery was solid for 4 innings, surrendering 3 hits and a run in his first appearance of the season. The Bulldogs got to Chase Hampton, Jamie Hitt, and Chase Webster for 10 runs – at least one in each of the final 5 innings.
Mississippi State’s Luke Hancock erased the 4-3 deficit with a two-run home run and Scotty Dubrule snapped a 5-5 tie in the 8th with a two-out RBI single off of Hitt.
The worst meltdown though, came in the 9th.
Hitt issued a leadoff walk to Drew McGowan to set the stage for trouble and the top of the Bulldog order came alive. Rowdey Jordan gave Mississippi State extra insurance with an RBI triple in a liner to left field that a diving Dru Baker couldn’t corral. Kamren James dumped the next offering into right field for an RBI single and the flood gates sprang wide open.
By the time Webster struck out Dubrule to end the uprising, the Bulldogs were well on their way to sticking Texas Tech with its first 0-3 start to a season since 1994.
“Need a little bit of time to know what we take away,” Tadlock said. “The biggest thing is I didn’t feel like I did a very good job of preparing my guys. We weren’t playing at a high level all weekend – and that’s on me.”
Baker was a bright spot for the Red Raiders, chasing in runs in consecutive at-bats to give his team the lead then even the score, 5-5. The final 3.1 frames were a nightmare, though, with Tech striking outs six times – they failed to put the ball in play 15 times in all.
In three games, Texas Tech struck out 41 times and left 31 men stranded.
Now the Red Raiders have three days to regroup, and more importantly, put their noses to the practice grindstone. Outside practice time was wiped out by the frigid weather last week as the Red Raiders were driven inside starting Thursday, February 11.
In fact, Texas Tech hadn’t practiced on a baseball field until they arrived at Globe Life Field for their assigned practice time last Friday.
“It really felt like to me this weekend that you didn’t know what you were going to get coming off the 8-9 days being inside,” Tadlock said. “Other teams handled it better than we did.”
Despite the woes however, there were defensive moments on Monday that were perhaps indicative of what is to come for this Red Raider team. Dylan Neuse fielded and RBI to shallow center and turned it on its head throwing out Dubrule at 3rd base.
Braxton Fulford got in on that action as well in the 8th as he hosed Dubrule attempting to steal 2nd to end that frame.
Texas Tech gets back to work Friday with the first of three games against Houston Baptist at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. The series opener has been moved to 2 p.m. on Friday because of pending weather later in the day.
No. 7 Mississippi State 11, No. 3 Texas Tech 5