Texas Tech baseball: Red Raiders serve notice with sweep at Florida State

Bonnin and Becker battle against a very good lineup

Facing an FSU lineup that had been averaging 10.5 runs per game this season, Bryce Bonnin and Austin Becker battled well in what was a tough challenge.  They both proved to have the type of competitiveness that your starters must possess in Big 12 play when you often just want your starter to keep you in the game, especially when you have a bullpen like Tech’s.

Bonnin had a rather challenging night on Saturday thanks to a controversial move by FSU head coach Mike Martin Jr.  In the bottom of the 4th, with the game tied at 1-1, the first-year Seminole head coach asked the umpires to check Bonnin’s hat and glove for a foreign substance, which they did only to find nothing.  Needless to say, the move did not sit well with Tim Tadlock.

Prior to that, the Red Raider starter had given up just three hits.  But by the end of the frame, he’d been touched for three runs and it was obvious that Martin’s tactics had a negative impact on Bonnin.

That would prove to be Bonnin’s final inning.  He allowed seven hits and four runs on the night.  Throwing 104 pitches, he struck out seven, walked three, and beaned one in an outing that was far from dominant.  Still, it was nice to see his competitiveness on display and had he not been interrupted by Martin Jr.’s bush-league move, he likely would have had a much better final stat line.

On Sunday, Austin Becker danced around trouble for the majority of his start.  The transfer from Vanderbilt allowed at least one runner in every inning he worked but in the first three frames, he was able to keep the Noles off the scoreboard by stranding six runners on base.

But in the 5th, his flirtation with danger finally caught up with him as he allowed a three-run homer after a leadoff single and a hit batter to open the inning.  That big fly proved to be his final pitch of the day.

Becker gave up three runs and two hits in 4.1 innings of work.  His four walks were less than ideal but he too was able to battle as he struck out five hitters over the course of his 75 pitches.

You have to like the fact that these Red Raider starters experienced some high-intensity struggles and unexpected turns of events in a hostile atmosphere this weekend.  That’s what life in conference play is going to bring their way so the fact that they were able to keep their teams in the game bodes well for what we can expect when they take the hill against Big 12 opponents.