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Texas Tech baseball splits double-header; eliminated from Big 12 Tournament

By Matthew Conner

BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 17: Baseball gloves sit on the field before a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at on August 17, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 17: Baseball gloves sit on the field before a baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at on August 17, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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After splitting two games with West Virginia on Saturday in Oklahoma City, the Texas Tech baseball team was eliminated from the Big 12 Tournament.

Though the Texas Tech baseball team advanced further in this year’s Big 12 Tournament than any Red Raider team since 2000, the program’s streak since winning its only conference tournament title in 1998 is now at 21 seasons.  After beating West Virginia 10-3 Saturday afternoon to force a winner-take-all rematch Saturday night, the Red Raiders were shut out by the Mountaineers 2-0 ending their time in Oklahoma City one win shy of reaching the championship game.

In the nightcap, two West Virginia freshmen pitchers combined to limit the Big 12’s most prolific offense to just one hit while striking out seven. Righty Ryan Bergert tossed five complete innings to pick up the win while Zach Ottinger worked the final four innings to pick up the rare 12-out save.

The lone Red Raider hit of the night came from first baseman Cameron Warren, who lined a single to left in the fifth inning. That was it for Tim Tadlock’s team which managed to put only three runners on base all game (two Red Raiders reached base via WVU errors).

The bright spot for Tech was the work of the pitching staff, which was superb in its own right.  Freshman Hunter Dobbins made the start and went a season-high six innings giving up just two runs while striking out five hitters and walking only one Mountaineer.

He was relieved by Clayton Beeter who tossed two scoreless innings and Caleb Freeman, who worked a scoreless ninth.  Tadlock had to be pleased with the work of his entire pitching staff in Oklahoma City as the Red Raiders gave up no more than five runs in any game in the tournament and held three opponents to four or fewer.

One of those instances came earlier in the day Saturday when Tech knocked off West Virginia to force a deciding second game of the day.  After Mason Montgomery tossed the first 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits while walking two, Ryan Sublette came on to work 4.1 frames of one-run baseball to pick up the win.

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The Red Raiders broke the game open in the fifth when they plated four runs after entering the inning down 3-2.  Brian Klein brought home Max Marusak on a double to tie the game before a two-run Josh Jung homer put the Red Raiders up for good.  The final run of the inning came on an RBI fielder’s choice by Kurt Wilson to bring home Warren, who added a solo homer in the seventh.

A Braxton Fulford sacrifice fly, also in the seventh and a Dru Baker two-RBI triple in the eighth put the cap on the Red Raiders’ best offensive output of the tournament.  But unfortunately, that momentum could not carry the Red Raiders to the title game as West Virginia shut down the highest-scoring team in the league for the second time in the tournament in the back end of the double-head.  Thursday, the Mountaineers also smothered the Red Raider offense in a 5-1 sending Tech to the loser’s bracket.

Fortunately, most believe that Tech has done more than enough to earn a top-8 national seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament, which would guarantee the Red Raiders would not have to leave Lubbock until the College World Series.  The tournament field will be revealed Monday, and for certain, the Red Raiders will be hosting a regional during the first weekend.

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It will be interesting to see if a deeper run than any team has made in the Tadlock era will have any impact on how the Red Raiders perform next weekend.  The good news is that because the pitching staff performed so well as a group, no single pitcher was overly taxed with only a handful of relievers making more than one appearance.  And if the Red Raiders pitch as well in the NCAA Tournament as they did in the Big 12 Tournament, another run to Omaha could be in the works.

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