Baseball is well-known for counting everything, for unwritten rules, and for coming up with multiple nicknames to keep fans Googling and broadcasters sounding like insiders. Whether you call them web gems, flashing the leather, or just impressive defensive plays, the Red Raiders put seven of them in the scorebook on Friday in their series-opening win over the Connecticut Huskies 4-3.
Brandon Birdsell once again got the Friday night start for Tech and turned in his longest outing of the season at 6 innings, with the most strikeouts he’s tallied as well at 5. The righthanded transfer struggled in the first inning giving up a leadoff single, but the base runner didn’t last long, as Braxton Fulford took care of him with a strong throw to second for his fourth caught stealing of the season.
The first did yield a single run for UCONN, the only run on the statline for Birdsell, but the 1-0 lead would be the Huskies’ last of the day. As it was apparent Birdsell settled in after the first inning and held the Huskies to five scoreless frames.
“Just kind of mentality, trying to get ahead and stay ahead,” explained Birdsell about his improvement after the first today. “You know, bury the offspeed when it’s 0-2, 1-2 and just giving them tough at-bats really. Just keep pounding the zone.”
Birdsell’s improvement from start to start over the course of the season has been evident as well as he turned in a strong performance and lowered his ERA from 6.35 entering the game to 4.60.
“It’s just been getting downhill and pounding the bottom of the zone,” said Birdsell about his season growth. “Trying to keep the off-speed down in the zone also. Whenever you can do that you can get a lot of swing and misses and whenever I get in trouble is whenever I leave everything up in the zone.”
Fulford wouldn’t be content with one gun down as he was in on two more web gems in the game with the second coming in the fourth inning. The Huskies attempted a bunt laid down by Christian Fedko that died eight feet in front of the plate on the third-base line. Fulford pounced on it like a starving man on a ham sandwich and delivered a screaming strike to the glove of Stilwell at first for another star in the book and the front-end out of what would become Birdsell’s first true 1-2-3 inning of the day.
“Any time you can take a hit away, obviously, it’s less baserunner, and less stress on a pitcher, and funner to watch too,” said Texas Tech Head Coach Tim Tadlock about his team’s defensive performance. “I mean, I’d pay to watch guys play good defense. ”
Offensively it wasn’t a prolific day for the Red Raiders, but the top of the order in Dru Baker and Jace Jung combined for 5 walks, a single, and reached on an error to reach safely 7 combined times. They scored three runs from those walks and extended UCONN’s usually excellent starter Ben Casparius’s pitch count to the most in the season (106) in his shortest outing (5 innings). The Red Raiders’ offensive woes saw two streaks come to an end as Cole Stilwell’s 25-games of reaching safely was snapped and Jung failed to book a hit after 11 straight games doing so.
Every run the Red Raiders plated reached on a walk and two advanced into scoring position on one of two Husky balks, and a wild pitch.
Red Raider shortstop Cal Conley was prolific and was responsible for the RBIs that plated the runs scored by Jung and Baker. Conley finished the day going 4-for-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI. Conley was complimentary when asked about Jung and Baker setting the table at the top of the order.
“They saw a lot of pitches today, that opens the game up for us guys hitting behind them,” said Conley of his teammates. “We see all of their pitches when we’re in the dugout, on deck. It just gives us a better feel before we go out there. A quick at-bat, we’re not going to see as many pitches, or not see the slider that at-bat. But Jace and Dru set the tone today from the start, so they put us in a good spot.”
For the second time this week, the Red Raiders notched a non-traditional double play, this one coming on a lineout in the fifth inning to Easton Murrell. The right fielder from Prosper, TX laid out forward for an incredible diving catch, and it was only his first of the day. Murrell popped up throwing with a heads-up toss to second base as he caught the runner, Chris Winkel, off the bag and got the putout to a covering Conley.
Murrell wasn’t done leaving the crowd in awe when in the sixth he laid out for another, this one a bending line drive pulling him hard towards the foul line. It was another full extension snag for Murrell and it secured another 1-2-3 inning for Birdsell, his final of the day. Dylan Neuse wasn’t left out of the leather flashing either as he cranked into a diving catch of his own in the seventh. Parker Kelly entered the game at third base to start the ninth and Kurt Wilson replaced Murrell in right field. Kelly immediately made his own incredible play with a diving snag at third base for the first out in that frame.
Perhaps the most spectacular out of the game was the final one that secured the win for the Red Raiders. After two solid relief innings by Andrew Devine, Brendan Girton entered and struggled, he was pulled mid-batter and Derek Bridges entered to get out of the jam. Following Bridges’ work, it was once again Connor Queen who was called upon in the save opportunity. He worked a groundout for the second out, but a screaming liner by pinch hitter T.C. Simmons bounced under the glove of a diving Stilwell.
But Wilson was there. He scooped up the dying ground ball and put it on a frozen rope to home where Fulford waited to receive and apply the tag and cued the Saddle Tramps to ring the victory bells.
Tech will be back in action Saturday at 2 p.m. in their second match with the Huskies. Tech carries an 11-game winning streak into Saturday and will look to maintain their 20-game home winning streak as well.
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