No. 2 Tech Powers Past Texas Southern, 8-4

Tuesday, March 28

Lubbock, Texas

6:30 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

23-4

Texas Southern

8-16

Texas Southern

Texas Tech

No. 2 Tech Powers Past Texas Southern, 8-4

March 29, 2017 | Baseball

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The Red Raiders picked up their ninth-straight win after an almost two and a half hour delay

LUBBOCK, Texas – The No. 2 Texas Tech baseball team overcame the two and a half hour weather delay to move through Texas Southern, 8-4, on Tuesday night at Rip Griffin Park.

The Red Raiders (23-4) racked up 17 hits against the Tigers (8-16), the 12^th game this season with 10 or more hits. Tech improved to 23-4 for the first time since 1997. It was the first meeting between the two programs in the 68-year history of Texas Tech baseball.

Five different Red Raiders tallied multi-hit performances against Texas Southern on Tuesday night, with senior outfielder Ryan Long and junior infielder Michael Davis each putting down three knocks. Long finished the night at a perfect 3-for-3, all singles, while Davis' three hits included a double in the fifth inning. Senior infielder Hunter Hargrove, junior outfielder Tanner Gardner and freshman outfielder Grant Little all recorded two hits as well.

With their performances tonight, Hargrove, Gardner & Little all continue to pace the team-lead for multiple hit games this season with 11. Hargrove also took over the lead in multi-RBI performances with seven after driving in two runs against the Tigers.

Sophomore lefty Erikson Lanning got the start on the mound for the Red Raiders on Tuesday before being halted by the weather delay. The Woodstock, Georgia, native tossed 3.0 scoreless frames, giving up three hits and striking out two.

Junior right-hander Jose Quezada picked up his third win of the year after taking over post-rain delay, going 2.0 innings of one-hit baseball, striking out four in the process. He rung up three batters in his first frame of work, the fourth inning.

Tech opened the game with a run in the bottom of the first, scoring in the first inning for the 10th time this season. After a leadoff single from Long, a double down the right-field line brought around Long for the early 1-0 lead.

The Red Raiders added another in the bottom of the third before the weather delay. Once again, Long began the frame with a single to right field. A fielder's choice put Jung on first, who was driven in by double to the left-center field gap to make it 2-0.

In the fourth, McMillon crossed the plate with the bases loaded behind an error from the pitcher on a failed pickoff attempt at third base to go up, 3-0.

Tech pushed across four runs in the fifth inning, making it the 12^th time this season the Red Raiders have scored four or more in an inning. The frame began with three-straight doubles, as Gardner led off with one to the right field wall, followed by back-to-back left field RBI knocks from Hargrove and Davis to make it 5-0.

The score quickly changed to 7-0 thanks to two-run blast by McMillon that was crushed off the top-left corner of the videoboard in right-center field. It was McMillon's third dinger of the season and his second in three games.

Texas Southern put their first run on the board in the top of the sixth inning after a double from Camacho drove in Lucca, who had walked earlier in the frame to cut the deficit to 7-1. However, Tech got the run back in the seventh after a pinch-hitting Connor Beck lifted a solo home run over the left field bullpen to push the seven-run advantage back at 8-1.

The Tigers found their way to three runs in the ninth inning to close the gap to 8-4. Three singles from Jimenez, Thomas & LeBlanc brought two runs in to score, while a double from Urbano with two away drove in the final run of the night for the Tigers.

The Red Raiders return to action on Wednesday for the series finale against Texas Southern at 2 p.m. at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

B5 - Whammy! You don't see where it hits, but McMillon crushes this ball off the top left corner of the videoboard! Tech up, 7-0! #WreckEm pic.twitter.com/25HPKLg7Ks
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) March 29, 2017