Texas Tech Baseball Defeats No. 22 Oklahoma State. Clinches Big 12 Tournament Birth

After losing a close shoot out Friday to the Cowboys (34-20), Tech (32-23) responded with 11-7 victory on Saturday evening. The Raiders clinch their third consecutive appearance Big 12  Tournament birth with the win.

The bats started off hot for the #22 Cowboys, but cooled after a high scoring 1st. Outfielder Devin Shines and 1st baseman Zach Johnson of the Cowboys homered in the 1st, and short stop Hunter Bailey singled to bring in 2nd baseman Davis Duren to give OSU a 3-0 lead after the top of the 1st.

The Raiders responded with a big 1st of their own. 3rd baseman Reid Redman, who leads the Raiders batting .333, hit a double to bring in short stop Kelby Tomlinson.  Center fielder Barret Barnes responded to the Cowboys home runs with one of his own. Barnes hit a 2 run homer over the left field wall to bring in Redman and tie up the game a 3-3.

Tech took the lead in the 2nd after OSU went scoreless going 3-up 3-down. Tomlinson scored on an unearned run as 2nd baseman Nick Popescu grounded out to short. Tomlinson was on 3rd after stealing 2nd and advancing to 3rd on a fielding error. Tech ended the inning up 4-3 and held on to the lead for the rest of the game.

After a scoreless 3rd Tech got hot again in the 4th scoring 4 runs and extending their lead to 8-3.  After a run was scored from 1st baseman Stephen Hagen's single, right fielder Andre Wheeler hit a deep 2 RBI single to center field and brought home catcher Kevin Whitehead and Hagen.

Tech didn't let up in the 5th driving in another 3 runs and extending their lead to 11-3. 2 of the RBI's were from a Hagen single to deep right center brought home Popescu, who got on by singling to right, and Barret Barnes who was intentionally walked for the 3rd time.

OSU tried to fight back with solo home runs from 3rd baseman Mark Ginther in the 6th and Johnson in the 7th and a 2 run 9th to make it appear closer, but the Cowboys couldn't overcome the huge deficit.

Freshman Red Raider Trey Masek got the win on Saturday

For a complete list of stats slick here

Tech and OSU will play again today in the rubber match. Today is also the senior game for the Red Raiders. Popescu is the lone senior for the Raiders. First pitch is set for 1pm.

The Big 12 Tournament runs May 25th through the 29th at RedHawks field in Oklahoma City. The seeding for the Tournament has yet to be determined.