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Texas Tech baseball: Bryce Bonnin, Taylor Floyd pitch Red Raiders past FSU

By Matthew Conner

STILLWATER, OK - SEPTEMBER 25: The Texas Tech Red Raiders flag flies outside the stadium before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys September 25, 2014 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Red Raiders 45-35. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images)
STILLWATER, OK - SEPTEMBER 25: The Texas Tech Red Raiders flag flies outside the stadium before the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys September 25, 2014 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Cowboys defeated the Red Raiders 45-35. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) /
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Wednesday night, the Texas Tech baseball team beat Florida State 4-1 to stay alive in the College World Series thanks to stellar work on the mound from Bryce Bonnin and Taylor Floyd.

It was the end of one amazing run and the continuation of another Wednesday night in Omaha as the Texas Tech baseball team beat Florida State 4-1 in an elimination game in the College World Series.  Guaranteed to be one of the last four teams still playing this season, Tim Tadlock’s team continued to add to what has been an amazing spring for Texas Tech athletics, which has already seen the basketball team reach the national title game and the men’s track team capture a national championship.

However, one of the most storied careers in the history of NCAA sports came to an end in the opposing dugout.  FSU head coach Mike Martin saw his 40-year run as head coach of the Seminoles come to an end after an NCAA record 2,029 wins and 17 trips to Omaha.  And it was a pair of Texas Tech right-handed pitchers that sent Martin into his well-deserved retirement.

Starter Bryce Bonnin and reliever Taylor Floyd combined to hold FSU to just three hits and one unearned run to set up a rematch with Michigan on Friday.  The Wolverines opened the College World Series with a 5-3 win over the Red Raiders last Saturday.

At times struggling with his command, Bonnin was able to dance in and out of trouble throughout his 5.0 innings.  Moving to 7-1 on the season, the sophomore struck out seven, walked one, hit a batter and gave up two hits while throwing 97 pitches.

The only FSU run to score came with Bonnin on the mound, but it was hardly his fault.  With runners at second and third and one out in the bottom of the fourth, Tech held a 1-0 lead.  But when catcher Braxton Fulford’s attempted pickoff throw behind the runner at second went into center field, the Seminoles’ Robby Martin easily scampered home to tie the game.

Fortunately, that would be all the offense the ‘Noles would muster as they ended their stay in Omaha having scored just two total runs in three games.  Wednesday, a huge reason for that offensive futility was the work of Taylor Floyd.

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Throwing 75 pitches out of the bullpen, the junior picked up the extremely rare four-inning save.  Utilizing a sweeping slider and a fall off the table changeup, Floyd struck out a career-high eight while allowing just one hit.

At the plate, the Red Raiders continued to utilize the long ball.  After a fourth-inning Cameron Warren single gave Tech the first run of the game, Brian Klein belted a solo homer to right field in the 6th to give the Red Raiders a 2-1 lead.  This game-winning homer was the second of the College World Series for Tech’s second baseman, one more than he had hit in the 62 previous games this year.

What’s more, Klein’s blast was the fifth of this CWS for Tech, four more than the program had hit in its three previous appearances combined.  With that shot, Tech extended its streak of NCAA Tournament games with a homer to nine.

In the eighth, Josh Jung’s RBI single and Kurt Wilson’s bases-loaded walk gave Tech two insurance runs.  Thankfully, Floyd did not need them as he worked around a walk in both the bottom of the eight and ninth to seal the win.

This marks the first time in four College World Series appearances that Texas Tech has won two games in Omaha.  Now, the attention turns to Michigan, which is undefeated thus far in the CWS.  Beginning with Friday’s contest, the Red Raiders will have to beat the Wolverines two times in a row to advance to the National Championship Series.

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Head coach Tim Tadlock said after Wednesday’s game that freshman Micah Dallas will get the start Friday, just six days after he allowed four runs on six hits in just three innings against the Maize and Blue to open the CWS.  Hopefully he will take a page from Bryce Bonnin and Taylor Floyd, who both gave the Red Raiders a fantastic effort on the mound to keep the Texas Tech athletic department’s magical spring of 2019 going.

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