Texas Tech baseball: Huge inning pushes Red Raiders past USF

Friday in Lubbock, the Texas Tech baseball team used a 9-run fifth inning to overpower South Florida in a 16-6 win.

It’s never a surprise when the Texas Tech baseball team has an offensive explosion at Rip Griffin Park. But the catalyst for the explosion that knocked out South Florida in Friday night’s 16-6 win was a rather unexpected player.

Hitting two homers in Tech’s 9-run fifth inning, freshman Drew Woodcox certainly opened some eyes. Coming into the game, he was hitting just .188 on the year and had not managed to power a ball out of the park. But on Friday night, the Houston native was 2-3 with four RBI.

Also in that inning, the home team would get RBIs from Jace Jung, Dru Baker, and Kurt Wilson as 14 Red Raiders would go to the plate.

However, Woodcox wasn’t the only Red Raider to surprise at the plate in the series opener. Nor was he the only one to use the long ball to make a statement.

Making his season debut after recovering from a shoulder injury sustained in October, outfielder Dillon Carter stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second and deposited the first pitch he saw over the right-center wall for a two-run shot. The freshman saw action in 18 games last year hitting .280 with 13 RBI but no homers. Now, his return could bolster a Red Raider lineup that was already among the best in the nation.

Friday, 13 different Red Raiders got an at-bat with nine of them collecting base hits. That included multi-hit games from Cal Conley, Dru Baker, Kurt Wilson, and Woodcox.

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On the mound, the Red Raiders got a quality start from righty Brandon Birdsell. Picking up the win to move to 3-1 on the year, the sophomore gave up just one run while striking out eight and walking none.

The transfer from Texas A&M has lowered his season ERA to 3.25 and has had three-straight games in which his game ERA has been at 1.50 or lower. Along the way, he appears to have cemented his place as the team’s Friday night starter, a role college teams typically reserve for their best starter.

Perhaps the only negative on the evening was the performance of the Tech bullpen. Five relievers combined to allow five USF runs, all of which were earned. That included three runs allowed by freshman Hade Key in an inning of work and two runs given up by Bradley LeJeune-Deacutis in his 0.1 innings on the hill.

Still, it was a great way for the Red Raiders to open the series. Moving to 17-4 on the season, they continue to play excellent baseball having gone 17-1 in their last 18 games. And if they continue to get surprise contributions at the plate as they did on Friday, the Red Raiders may be nearly unstoppable.

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