
Tech drops Sunday finale against Texas
March 27, 2022 | Baseball
Texas scored first, using a sacrifice fly in the second inning to plate a run. Texas Tech answered in the bottom of the third, similarly, as Jace Jung's sacrifice fly brought home Easton Murrell. Both Murrell and Cole Stilwell smacked a pair of one-out base hits, Stilwell's allowing Murrell to get to third base and in position for Jung to score him.
The 1-1 game held steady until the top of the fifth when the Longhorns' first two batters connected for back-to-back home runs. Red Raiders' starter Mason Molina rebounded and produced two outs before he was lifted. Josh Sanders finished the inning and remained in the game for the sixth until Kyle Robinson and Jase Lopez finished the contest.
The Longhorns' offense scored two more in the sixth, sparked by a lead-off double. Texas manufactured three additional singles before the inning concluded with the Red Raiders trailing 5-1.
Texas Tech threatened in the home half of the sixth to make a comeback, as Ty Coleman and Owen Washburn hit a pair of singles in between Kurt Wilson's put-out. Jung led off the inning with a warning track blast to left-center field that was caught using a solid defensive play for the first out. With Coleman and Washburn on the corners, the sixth was halted as Texas' starter Lucus Gordon finished the inning with his seventh strikeout of the day.
The Longhorns followed with their scoring onslaught the next inning to secure their first win in the weekend series. It is Tech's its first regular-season home loss since May 20, 2021, against Kansas.
Texas Tech drops to 20-5 and 2-1 in Big 12 play while Texas improves to 19-7 and 1-2 in conference action.
Murrell led Tech on Sunday from the plate going 3-for-4, accounting for half of the team's hits. From the leadoff position, he went 3-for-3 in the series during his first at-bat with a pair of home runs and a single on Sunday.
Quotable
Head Coach Tim Tadlock
On falling behind on Sunday...
"I think Texas earned every bit of it. Their lineup was outstanding, top to bottom. I thought Lucas Gordon was outstanding on both sides of the plate. They'll be tough to beat if he does that."
How do you sum up this opening weekend of Big 12 play?
"I think it's really early for all of these teams. As far as the weekend goes, really great series. Both teams should be commended for how they competed through the weekend. I thought our guys competed and prepared good, but I also think we're going to keep evolving as a baseball team. We, by no means, played our best baseball."
Up Next
The Red Raiders close their six-game homestand with games on Tuesday and Wednesday versus Stephen F. Austin. Tuesday is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start while Wednesday will begin at 1 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Gordon, Lucas (2-1)
L: Molina, Mason (1-3)
Batting:
2B: Hodo III, Douglas 1 ; Stehly, Murphy 1 ; Ardoin, Silas 1 ; Daly, Mitchell 1
3B: Hodo III, Douglas 1
HR: Faltine, Trey 1 ; Messinger, Skyler 1 ; Daly, Mitchell 1
RBI: Kennedy, Eric 1 ; Hodo III, Douglas 1 ; Stehly, Murphy 1 ; Ardoin, Silas 1 ; Faltine, Trey 3 ; Messinger, Skyler 1 ; Daly, Mitchell 3 ; Campbell, Dylan 1
SH: Ardoin, Silas 1 ; Messinger, Skyler 1
SF: Daly, Mitchell 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kennedy, Eric 1 ; Hodo III, Douglas 1 ; Melendez, Ivan 1 ; Stehly, Murphy 2 ; Ardoin, Silas 1 ; Faltine, Trey 2 ; Messinger, Skyler 2 ; Daly, Mitchell 2
CS: Campbell, Dylan 1

Batting:
2B: Murrell, Easton 1
RBI: Jung, Jace 1
SH: Carter, Dillon 1
SF: Jung, Jace 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Murrell, Easton 1