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

By Matthew Conner

TALLAHASSEE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: A general view from the stands of the Florida State Seminoles and the Maine Black Bears during the game at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University on February 15, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. The 11th Ranked Florida State defeated the Maine Black Bears on Opening Day in a no-hitter 11 to 0. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images)
TALLAHASSEE, FL - FEBRUARY 15: A general view from the stands of the Florida State Seminoles and the Maine Black Bears during the game at Dick Howser Stadium on the campus of Florida State University on February 15, 2019 in Tallahassee, Florida. The 11th Ranked Florida State defeated the Maine Black Bears on Opening Day in a no-hitter 11 to 0. (Photo by Don Juan Moore/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /

Time and again, Tech came up with clutch hits

With a pitching staff as good as the Red Raiders have, the offense doesn’t always have to put up 10 runs (though we already know Tech has enough power to do that on any given day) but it does have to be clutch.  That would be a proper way to describe the Red Raider bats this weekend as they came up with timely hits in both games against FSU.

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Saturday, Tech was just 2-9 with runners in scoring position and scored the game-winning run on a throwing error.  But a pair of huge extra-base hits put the Red Raiders in position to force extra innings.

Down 4-1 in the fifth, Cole Stillwell doubled with the bases loaded to tie the game.  That came just a half-inning after FSU plated three runs of their own to take the lead.

But in the top of the ninth, Tech was down to its final two outs trailing 5-4.  That’s when Dru Baker knotted things with an opposite-field blast to give his team new life.

On Sunday, Stillwell opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second.  In the two games, the first baseman was 3-9 with five RBI.

Shortstop Cal Conley gave Tech its next two runs, the first on a fielder’s choice in the third and the second on a solo homer in the seventh to even the game at 3-3.  That allowed the Red Raiders to plate the winning run in the most pedestrian of manners.

In the eighth, Brian Klein reached base on a double to left field and advanced to third on a passed ball.  He came home on Cody Master’s sacrifice fly to center field to put Tech up for good.

We often don’t appreciate the sacrifice fly as much as we should, especially in the college game.  But knowing the situation and being able to put the ball in the air to the outfield when the pitcher is obviously trying to register a strikeout is a sign of a mature and solid hitter and that’s what Maters proved to be in the game’s most critical at-bat.

We always love to see the Red Raiders slug their way to victory and with this lineup, there will be plenty of instances of that this year.  But it was impressive to see this team win a pair of one-run games mostly because it was able to come up with timely hits and put the ball in play in key moments and do what the game called for (the winning run in both games came on routine plays where Tech simply made contact at the plate).  That, more than prodigious power, is the sign of a truly dangerous offense because scoring in a variety of ways is what elite teams do.

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