Wreck'Em Red
Fansided

Texas Tech baseball: 3 reasons Red Raiders were able to sweep regional

By Matthew Conner

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 05: Cody Masters #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is congratulated by Braxton Fulford #26 after hitting a home run against the Texas State Bobcats at Minute Maid Park on March 05, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 05: Cody Masters #7 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is congratulated by Braxton Fulford #26 after hitting a home run against the Texas State Bobcats at Minute Maid Park on March 05, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 4
Next
May 28, 2021; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Texas Tech pitcher Micah Dallas (34) delivers a pitch to Kansas St. during the Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
May 28, 2021; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Texas Tech pitcher Micah Dallas (34) delivers a pitch to Kansas St. during the Big 12 Conference Baseball Tournament at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports /

The bullpen was nails

Throughout this season, when Tech has had to go deep into the bullpen, things have been a bit shaky.  Thus, there was reason to be concerned about the possibility of four games in four days given the way a regional setting can tax a pen.

Fortunately, Tech’s starters kept the relievers from having to do too much work.  But when called upon, the bullpen was nails, especially in some high-leverage situations.

More from Wreck'Em Red

Against Army, Tech got three innings from the pen, two from Connor Queen (who surrendered only a solo homer), and a perfect 9th from Dallas.  But it was what the pen did on Saturday that might be the defining performance of the Lubbock Regional.

Coming into the game in the sixth inning with runners on second and third and only one out to try to protect a one-run lead, Ryan Sublette was placed in as high-leverage of a situation as one could imagine.  All he did was proceed to strike out the first two hitters he faced to quell the Tar Heel uprising and keep the Red Raiders on top.

In Tech’s next at-bat, Wilson’s homer would extend the lead and the Red Raiders would tack on three extra insurance runs to give Sublette room to maneuver.  But he wouldn’t need it.

On the night, he would close out the game by tossing 3.2 innings of scoreless hitless baseball.  Over the course of 63 pitches, he would strike out eight hitters and walk only two.  It was a brilliant effort from Tech’s ace reliever.

Perhaps the biggest development in the UCLA game was the scoreless inning of Andrew Devine who entered the game with an ERA over 12.00 following a disappointing season.  Should he return to the form he showed in 2020 when he had an ERA under 2.00, it would be a huge boon for the Red Raiders.

In all, Tech got 10.2 innings of work from the pen this weekend and gave up only one run.  That’s tremendous in any circumstance but especially given what was at stake.  If that is a sign that of what is to come from the Red Raider relievers this postseason, we could be in for a rather fun ride for the rest of the month.

Home/Texas Tech Baseball