No. 11 Tech Cruises To 16-1 Victory Over NMSU

Tuesday, February 21

Lubbock, Texas

2 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

4-1

New Mexico State

2-3

New Mexico State

Texas Tech

No. 11 Tech Cruises To 16-1 Victory Over NMSU

February 21, 2017 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Coach Tadlock Presser Garcia & Gonzalez Presser

The Red Raiders racked up a season-high 18 hits in Tuesday’s home opener.

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 11 Texas Tech baseball team kicked off its home slate with a bang, posting a 16-1 win over New Mexico State on Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

The Red Raiders (4-1) turned in their third double-digit hit total of the year against the Aggies (2-3), putting up a season-high 18 in Tuesday's victory. Tech racked up 13 and 17 hits against Western Illinois on Feb. 17 & 18, respectively. It was also the most runs scored by the Red Raiders this season and the third time with 10 or more.

Junior infielder Orlando Garcia exploded for four hits and a career-high seven RBI after roping two singles and two homers on Tuesday. Garcia launched a three-run home run to left field in the sixth inning, then followed it up with a grand slam in the seventh. It was the second time this season a Red Raider produced a four-hit performance, joining Hunter Hargrove's season opening bid against Western Illinois.

Three other Red Raiders posted two or more hits against the Aggies, as freshman outfielder Grant Little tallied three, while junior outfielder Connor Beck and freshman infielder Josh Jung each had two. Little and Jung lead the Red Raiders with four multi-hit games this season.

Another freshman, John Henry Gonzalez, put together a solid outing, getting the nod for his first start of his career. The Edinburg, Texas, native tossed 5.1 innings, giving up only two hits and one run, while striking out five.

For the first time this season, the Red Raiders did not strike first, as New Mexico State picked up their one and only run in the opening frame. The Aggies found themselves with runners on second & third after a ground-rule double by Austin Botello to right-center field. The ball traveled over the fence after landing in play and initially saved the run from scoring, but a sacrifice fly by Dan Hetzel to left-center field for the early 1-0 lead.

It would be the only hit for the Aggies until the fifth inning, when they would record their second and last hit of the game, another double that sliced down the right field line. It was the fewest amount of hits earned by NMSU so far this season and the fewest the Red Raider pitching staff has given up in 2017. Credit that figure to Gonzalez and Tech's four relief pitchers: Parker Mushinski, Jacob Patterson, Caleb Kilian and Andrew Davis, who all recorded a strikeout and did not allow a base hit to the Aggies, as well as the Red Raider defensive front, who did not record an error for the third time this season.

Tech would answer back in the bottom of the second after a single to left-center field by freshman catcher Michael Berglund scored junior designated hitter Zach Rheams from second, who reached earlier in the frame via a hit-by-pitch. It was the fifth run of the year for Rheams and the second RBI for Berglund.

The Red Raiders took the lead in the bottom of the third as the Aggies put in the early call to the bullpen. Junior Michael Davis smacked a first-pitch double to right-center field and would score thanks to a fielding error by the shortstop to go up, 2-1.

After a scoreless fourth frame, Tech would score runs in each of the next four innings, beginning with two in the bottom of the fifth. Garcia began the inning with a single to left field, followed by a single by Little through the middle. On the next play, a pair of errors by the first baseman and the catcher allowed Davis to reach safely and Garcia to cross the plate for the first run of the frame. Later in the inning, a grounder by Hargrove to the shortstop drove in Little to give Tech a 4-1 advantage.

Four runs would cross the plate in the sixth inning, as Jung and Beck posted back-to-back singles and would be advanced by a sacrifice bunt by Berglund. Garcia rewarded the efforts of the small ball with a three-run home run over the left field wall to push Tech's lead to 7-1. It was Garcia's second homer of the year, but would be just the first of the day for the El Paso native. Another run would score in the sixth thanks to a sacrifice fly from Tanner Gardner sent Little home for the eighth run of the afternoon.

Garcia's second dinger of the day was lifted to the same part of the park, but even deeper, as he smashed a grand slam over the left field bullpen to increase Tech's lead to 12-1. It was the second time in his career he's hit two home runs in a game and was the first Red Raider grand slam since Stephen Smith on May 3, 2015.

With the bases cleared in the seventh, Little and Davis reached via a single up the middle and a walk. After being moved over by Gardner, senior outfielder Hunter Hargrove ripped a double to left field to score the Red Raider duo. Hargrove would later find his way across home plate after a single up the middle by sophomore outfielder Cameron Warren.

Three-straight singles by Garcia, sophomore outfielder Cody Farhat and freshman infielder Trevor Paradoski results in Tech's final run of the game, pushing the game to a 16-1 advantage.

The Red Raiders return to action with a four-game weekend set inside the confines of Rip Griffin Park on Feb. 24-26, when they welcome in California-Berkeley. Game one is set for a 2 p.m. first pitch on Friday, Feb. 24, followed by a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon, with the finale slated for a 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.

????: "Adios, muchacho! Orlando Garc-ia-later!" Orlando detonates again to LF, this time a grand slam to make it 12-1, Tech! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/CmfDv9Y4o0
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) February 21, 2017