Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
Baylor
Red Raiders Slug Past No. 9 Baylor 13-8
March 22, 2009 | Baseball
March 22, 2009
WACO, Texas - Freshman right fielder Garrett Totten hit a grand slam and senior first baseman Chris Richburg slugged two home runs to lead Texas Tech to a 13-4 win over No. 9 Baylor on Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Baylor Ballpark.
Texas Tech improves to 9-14 overall and to 3-3 in Big 12 play while Baylor drops to 14-5 and 3-3 in the league. The win over ninth-ranked Baylor is the first over a ranked opponent this season for the Red Raiders.
For the second day in a row, the Red Raiders struck for a solo run in the top of the first to take an early 1-0 lead. Senior second baseman Willie Rueda led off the game with a walk and then moved to second on his seventh stolen base of the season. Following a bunt single by Michael Reed, Rueda was able to score on a sacrifice fly to center field by Joey Kenworthy.
Baylor got a leadoff single from Landis Ware in the third and a one-out walk from Lucas Hileman that set up a three-run home run by Shaver Hansen. Hansen delivered a fastball offering from Tech starter Chad Bettis over the wall in right-center field to give the Bears a 3-1 lead.
Texas Tech returned the home run favor in the top half of the fourth as the Red Raiders took advantage of a very wild Craig Fritsch. A leadoff hit by Chris Richburg followed by two walks and hit batter pulled the Red Raiders within one at 3-2. Freshman right fielder Garret Totten then blasted his first career home run over the wall in left center field to give the Red Raiders their first grand slam home run of the year and a 6-3 lead.
A fielding error by Bettis on the first pitch of the fifth ended up costing him an unearned run as the Bears closed the gap to 6-4. Hileman reached on the error and then scored on an RBI single by designated hitter Aaron Miller.
The Red Raider offense exploded in the top half of the sixth as Tech grabbed a commanding 12-4 lead. Tech pounded out five hits in the inning and took advantage of two Baylor errors while Richburg supplied the fireworks with at three-run home run.
With a 12-4 lead in the eighth, Richburg blasted another home run to give the Red Raiders a 13-4 lead. The solo blast over the center field wall and marked his eighth home run of the year and the second of the game.
Baylor rallied for four runs off Tech reliever Austin Quick in the bottom of the ninth before Brian Cloud came in and retired the next three to end the game.
Bettis (3-0) picked up the win today in what was the longest outing of his career. He logged eight innings and allowed four runs on eight hits and posted a career-high eight strikeouts. Fritsch took the loss for Baylor as he surrendered six runs on four hits over three innings of work.
Texas Tech returns to action tomorrow evening as the Red Raiders will face the Lubbock Christian Chaps at Dan Law Field. The festivities surrounding the jersey retirement of former head coach Larry Hays is set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
| R | H | E | ||||||||||
| Texas Tech | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 1 |
| Baylor | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
WP = Chad Bettis (3-0) | ||||||||||||
| LP = Craig Fritsch (1-3) | ||||||||||||
| SV = None | ||||||||||||
