Struggles come and go during the course of a long season, although for Texas Tech, those have been few and far between the last several seasons.
How the Red Raiders manage their current slide could define how serious a contender they remain in the Big 12 Conference race the next several weeks.
The 8th-ranked Red Raiders absorbed their third straight loss Friday night, falling to 10th-ranked TCU 7-3 at Dan Law Field.
On the heels of losing the final two games at Kansas State last weekend Texas Tech has dropped three consecutive Big 12 Conference games for the first since April 7-13, 2019, when they dropped a series finale to Kansas then the first two contests at West Virginia.
Friday’s result in and of itself isn’t anything to worry about: A loss against one of the best pitchers in the league is going to happen once in a while.
In a wider context, though, the setback is cause for some concern – especially with two more games left this weekend against the blistering hot Horned Frogs (22-7, 7-0 Big 12), who are on an 11-game winning streak.
Losing the series opener puts the Red Raiders at a precarious and unexpected crossroads: Win the next two games and pre-season expectations are rightfully resurrected. Anything else, and it would likely be time to reassess what is realistic to aim for the final six weeks of the regular season.
Friday was an unwelcome rinse-and-repeat from two losses last weekend at Kansas State.
TCU roughed up Texas Tech starting pitcher Micah Dallas for six 1st-inning runs to set the tone and Horned Frogs’ pitcher Russell Smith tamped out just about every threat that arose on the way to his 6th victory.
The Red Raiders (20-7, 3-4 Big 12) managed only 6 hits against Smith, River Ridings, and Hayden Green. The trio combined for 17 strikeouts on the evening against Tech batters.
Texas Tech played without Dru Baker and Dylan Neuse, both out with injuries. Jace Jung was a bright spot with a solo home run and an RBI hit the next inning.
But Jung was the outlier as Texas Tech’s offensive performance was flat-out abysmal:
- 1-for-15 with a runner on base
- 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position
- 2-for-13 with two outs
As bad as all those numbers are, they were exacerbated by the immediate hole TCU created with the quick start.
Making his first weekend start of the season, Dallas created problems for himself with back-to-back one-out walks. Zack Humphreys gave the Frogs a 1-0 lead with a single up the middle and Gene Wood nudged the lead to 2-0 with an RBI groundout.
Dallas issued his third walk of the inning and Greg Rodgers made that hurt when he rammed a two-run triple into the right-field corner. Phillip Sikes made things worse with a two-run home run to cap the six-run haymaker.
“They had a good game plan,” Dallas said. “They were laying off the pitches I wanted to throw, and I didn’t adjust quickly enough.
“I’ve got to be better moving forward and be able to adjust my game plan quicker.”
Those adjustments were made, and Dallas got through 3 more innings without surrendering another run. But the Red Raider offense couldn’t find any way to chip away against Smith.
The 6-foot-9 righty mowed down 10 of the first 11 Texas Tech hitters with 5 strikeouts before Jung cracked his homer to right field just inside the foul pole. The Red Raiders generated a second run in the inning with the help of a TCU error and they cashed in on Parker Kelly’s leadoff single an inning later when Jung rapped a two-out single to center field.
Undaunted, Smith struck out Cole Stillwell to end the 5th inning and breezed through the next two innings with four more strikeouts to finish with 12 Ks.
“I thought Russell Smith threw the ball really well for them, as did the guys out of the bullpen,” Texas Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. “Guys were doing their best with what they have.
“It wasn’t for lack of effort, that’s for sure.”
The same was true for Mason Montgomery, who provided a major silver lining in the loss.
Bumped out of the weekend rotation after lasting only 2/3 of an inning at Kansas State, Montgomery entered in the 5th and was dazzling. He allowed only one unearned run and fanned 7 TCU hitters in 5 innings on the way to setting down 13 of the last 14 batters he faced.
“He definitely threw the ball really well,” Tadlock said of Montgomery. “Felt like he was a really good matchup against their guys, and that definitely held true.”
On their first three-game skid since April 22-27, 2018 (vs. Oklahoma, at Arkansas, at West Virginia), the Red Raiders try to turn things around when the teams meet again at 2 p.m. Saturday.
Tadlock was non-committal on whether Baker or Neuse would return to action.
“As soon as we feel like they’re 100 % they’ll be in there,” he said. “Right now, they’re not 100%.”
TTU27 box score