Texas Tech baseball: Red Raiders get the season started with a win
Brian Klein was the star of the day at the plate
After losing such huge components of last year’s lineup as Josh Jung, Cam Warren, and Gabe Holt, senior second baseman Brian Klein is expected to be the unquestioned leader at the plate this season. In game one, he looked the part going 3-4 with an RBI.
Overall, it wasn’t a huge offensive outburst by Texas Tech baseball standards as Tech had a moderate hit total of seven. What’s more, two of the runs on the day came on HBU errors.
Still, the offense got enough done on a brutally cold day when metal bats are never fun to swing. And it was Klien who finally got the season’s first hit.
In the bottom of the 4th, he singled through the left side of the infield with one out to be the first Red Raider to reach by means other than a walk. But he was stranded at second base, which he reached when catcher Braxton Fulford walked.
However, an inning later he did some damage. With his team already leading 2-0, the lefty drove in Dylan Neuse to add to the lead.
That ended the day for HBU’s Gruller and showed how important Klien is to this team. Now hitting in the cleanup spot, he has to consistently give his team quality at-bats in key situations as he did with two outs to keep the rally alive. What’s more, he will be expected to be Tech’s top run-producer so his ability to cash in with a man in scoring position was encouraging.
Had he failed to come through, Tech would have had just a 2-0 lead and HBU would have felt fortunate to escape the jam with no further damage and still believing they could win. But by keeping the party alive, Klien helped paved the way for three more runs during the knockout punch that was the bottom of the fifth.
It felt like Klien’s hit in that frame was the most important of the day because the difference in a three-plus run lead and a two-run lead is significant. Trailing only by two runs, HBU would have merely needed to draw a walk to have the tying run come to the plate thus changing the entire tone of the game.
For this team to be one of the best in the nation, Klein has to continue to be the pillar upon which the lineup stands. He showed Friday why he’s so critical to the Red Raiders’ success by coming up with a hit that truly broke open a game that had been close up to that point.