Texas Tech baseball: Red Raiders lose on wild-pitch, face game-3 Sunday

The Texas Tech baseball team lost 6-5 to Oklahoma State Saturday in Lubbock to force a winner-take-all game three of the Super Regional series Sunday afternoon.

One of the Texas Tech baseball team’s greatest strengths throughout the season, its bullpen, has suddenly become a liability in the first two games of the Super Regional series with Oklahoma State. And Saturday, a wild pitch from Red Raider reliever Tyler Floyd allowed the Cowboys to score the winning run in a 6-5 walk-off win to extend the series.

Tim Tadlock saw his bullpen allow three runs in the seventh inning or later for the second night in-a-row but unlike on Friday, his team was unable to overcome the struggles of his relievers.

Starter Caleb Kilian allowed three runs in six innings of work while striking out eight. With his best stuff, the junior righty had to battle over the course of his 99 pitches and left the game trailing 3-2.

After Connor Queen pitched a scoreless seventh, he allowed OSU second baseman Hueston Morrill (who was 3-3 with a two-run homer, and three runs scored) to lead off the eighth inning with a single. Dane Haveman came on for Queen and promptly served up a two-run homer to Colin Simpson to give the Cowboys a 5-4 lead.

That came just a half-inning after the Red Raiders managed to claim their first lead of the game when freshman Dru Baker singled home Cody Masters. The Red Raider third baseman was 3-3 with two RBI and two runs scored including a solo shot in the seventh to tie the game at three-all.

In the top of the ninth, Gabe Holt reached base on a throwing error by OSU shortstop Andrew Navigato and advanced to second as the ball rolled away from the first baseman. He would eventually score on a sacrifice fly from Brian Klein to tie the game 5-5.

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But with Dylan Neuse on third, Masters grounded out to end the rally and leave the go-ahead run stranded 90 feet from home. Throughout the game, Tech struggled to come up with clutch hits with men in schooling position going just 1-5 and leaving 10 runners on base. Most notably was the third inning strike out by Josh Jung to leave the bases loaded after Tech had tied the game at 1-1 thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice from Holt on which Baker scored thanks to a brilliant slide to beat the tag at home.

In the bottom of the ninth. freshman right Clayton Beeter walked leadoff hitter and Lubbock native Noah Sifrit, who advanced to second on a wild pitch from Floyd. Floyd took over for Beeter in the middle of the inning’s second at-bat but he was not able to find the stroke zone with any more consistency than Beeter had.

And with the bases loaded and one out, Floyd’s wildness ended the game when his errant offering scooted past catcher Braxton Fulford and allowed Sifrit to score the winning run. It was Floyd’s third wild pitch in just 0.1 innings of work and the fourth from a Texas Tech pitcher on the night.

The result is a winner-take-all game-three Sunday at 5 p.m. Tadlock is expected to send sophomore Bryce Bonnin to the mound and here’s hoping he can replicate his most recent start. In helping the Red Raiders close out Dallas Baptist and sweep through the Lubbock Regional last weekend, Bonnin tossed seven scoreless innings allowing only three hits and striking out seven.

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One advantage the Red Raiders figure to have is another rowdy home field atmosphere. Tech is 29-7 at home this year and has not lost consecutive games at Rip Griffin Park all season. They will have to continue that trend Sunday if they are going to return to the College World Series.

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