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Texas Tech baseball beats Arkansas on Cody Masters’ RBI triple

By Matthew Conner

Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: A general view of the stadium during the National Anthem of game one of the College World Series Championship Series between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Omaha, NE - JUNE 26: A general view of the stadium during the National Anthem of game one of the College World Series Championship Series between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators on June 26, 2017 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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Monday at the College World Series, the Texas Tech baseball team staved off elimination by beating Arkansas 5-4 thanks to an RBI triple by Cody Masters in the 8th inning.

Throughout most of the Texas Tech baseball program’s history at the College World Series, it has felt like the clutch hits the Red Raiders have so desperately needed just never came.  But Monday, DH Cody Masters belted a game-winning RBI triple in the 8th inning and the Red Raiders smashed three homers to push past Arkansas 5-4 in an elimination game.

It was just the third all-time win in Omaha for the Red Raiders who avoided being swept out of the CWS like they were in their first ever trip back in 2014.  In the three trips since (2016, 2018, 2019), The Red Raiders have managed to win at least one game and thanks to knocking off the No. 5 national seed, they will have an opportunity to pick up a second CWS win in the same trip for the first time ever on Wednesday night.

But early on, it appeared that this game might follow an all too familiar and unpleasant script.  The Razorbacks jumped out to a 3-0 lead thanks to a second-inning solo homer and two RBI base hits in the third.  In what has become an unwelcome trend, it marked the second-straight game in which Tech fell behind big in the first three innings after the Red Raiders allowed Michigan to jump out to a 4-0 lead on Saturday.

But those three runs were all that Red Raider starter Caleb Kilian allowed to the Hogs.  The junior battled through seven innings allowing six hits and three runs while striking out nine over the course of 105 pitches.

Setting a new program record for strikeouts in a CWS game, Kilian was able to settle down and keep his team in the game after it looked like he was on the ropes early.  In his final four innings, he allowed only three Razorbacks to reach base as he set a new career high in pitches.

And he kept Arkansas at bay long enough for the Red Raiders’ big bats to finally come alive in a huge way.  In the bottom of the 4th, senior first baseman Cameron Warren clubbed a ball deep into the left-center stands to cut the Arkansas lead to 3-2.  It was the fourth homer of the NCAA Tournament for the Big 12 RBI leader, tying Zach Rheams’ (2018) school record for homers in a single postseason.

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In the 5th, Tech’s homer barrage continued but this time, it came from an unlikely source.  Sophomore Easton Murrell connected on a solo shot, his first of the season, to tie the game at 3-3.  Making just his 10th start of the season, Murrell may have had extra motivation being as he was playing against the team from which he transferred to Texas Tech following last season.

An inning later, the Red Raiders took a lead in Omaha for the first time this year when All-American shortstop Josh Jung led off the 6th with a solo blast to right.  Jung, who has hit safely in every NCAA Tournament game this year, joined Warren and Rheams with his fourth homer of the 2019 tournament, all coming in the last five games.

But nothing seems to come easy for the Red Raiders in Omaha and the Hogs were not willing to go quietly.  Lefty Dane Haveman entered to pitch the 8th and gave up a run on a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly, sending the game to the bottom of the 8th knotted 4-4.

That’s when Masters seized his opportunity to play hero.  Belting a 3-1 pitch off the top of the right field wall for a triple, the sophomore brought home Warren from first after the big man was put in motion on the play by Tadlock.  The two-out line drive was Masters’ first triple of the season and his first hit of the College World Series.

In the ninth, John McMillon, who had closed out the 8th for Haveman, hit the leadoff man before being pulled in favor of Taylor Floyd.  After allowing a single to his first hitter, Floyd enduced a pop-up, registered a strikeout and closed out the game by getting Arkansas DH Matt Goodheart to line out to left.  It was the fourth save of the season for Floyd who preserved the win for McMillon, who moved to 4-3 on the season despite tossing just 0.1 innings.

In moving to 3-7 all-time at the College World Series, the Red Raiders avenged last season’s 7-4 loss to Arkansas in Omaha, which also came in the second game of the CWS.  But unlike last year’s game, Monday’s triumph was in an elimination game as Tech was able to keep its hopes of a national title alive.

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To reach the best-of-three national title series, Tadlock’s team still must win three-consecutive games against Florida State and Michigan.  That will be no easy task but this team has proven all year to be full of grit and fight.  And they showed that in a nail-biting win over the Razorbacks in which the Red Raiders finally came up with the big plays in Omaha.

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