Texas Tech Shows No Mercy to TCU on Sunday
The Texas Tech baseball team lost on Friday to TCU 4-1.
They were getting beat and looked awful on Saturday afternoon in the rain before a postponement.
Then, in the 6th inning of the restarted game two on Sunday, Brian Klein rocked a three-run home run to take the lead and completely change the series. The go-ahead home run was the final run in the 6-4 game, and it tied the series at 1 to 1.
Then, just 30 minutes after the second game ended, the Red Raiders came to play in the rubber match.
The Red Raiders won 21-3 in a football-inspired score score fest where the Red Raider Bats just could not miss. The Red Raider baseball team scored in every inning. All 6 of them.
That's right. The Red Raiders did all of the damage in a shortened game due to the run rule. You mostly see the "mercy rule" in Little League, but it's still a thing in college and it's got to feel so good to break it out against a conference rival and first place Big 12 team like TCU.
Texas Tech couldn't stop scoring. They scored three in the first inning, one in the second and five in the third. Now, eight runs in a game would have been great, but the Texas Tech bats weren't done.
They added seven more in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two more in the sixth.
That adds up to 21.
Ryan Shetter pitched five innings, giving up two runs on 99 pitches with six strikeouts. Jacob Patterson finished the last two innings yielding an unearned run in his effort.
The offensive stars of the game could be picked by throwing a dart at the lineup. Every single Red Raider got multiple hits except for John McMillon but he hit a solo home run and was on base twice after drawing walks. Hunter Hargrove was on base five times out of five at bats. Ryan Long and Josh Jung hit home runs.
Nobody had the production that freshman Grant Little did.
Little had six at bats and managed three hits and five RBIs. His hits included a two-run home run and a bases clearing double. Grant Little was the star of the game in a game full of stars.
According to Texastech.com, over the last five games the Red Raiders have scored 61 runs behind 67 hits. For the first time this season, every Red Raider in the starting lineup had at least one hit, one run and one RBI.
The win puts the Red Raiders just a game back from the Horned Frogs in the Big 12 with just eight games left on the Texas Tech schedule. The 36-12 resume, along with the series win over the TCU, sets the Red Raiders up great to host a regional as well as a super regional.
It also sets the Red Raiders up to win the Big 12 for the second straight year.
After a final mid-week series against Ohio State the Red Raiders will have Big 12 series against West Virginia and Kansas. West Virginia is the only team left on the schedule with a winning record.