No. 22 Tech, TCU series square after two games

Saturday, April 1

Lubbock, TX

2 p.m. CT

Texas Tech Athletics

19-9, 3-5

TCU

17-10, 5-3

TCU

Texas Tech

No. 22 Tech, TCU series square after two games

April 01, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Press Conference

By: Matt Burkholder

LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 22 Texas Tech was outmuscled on Saturday afternoon, falling to TCU 10-7 at Rip Griffin Park. The Horned Frogs hit five home runs in the contest, which started with a leadoff bomb in the first to set up a wire-to-wire win.

"I thought TCU came out swinging the bat really good," said head coach Tim Tadlock. "Thought that when we made a mistake, they hit it really hard. [TCU starter Kole] Klecker threw the ball good enough. Early on we had a hard time with him. We did scratch a few runs across on him. [Garrett Wright] threw the ball really good, but really, to me, it's their starter and their offense. They just came to play and earned the right to win today and beat us."

The Horned Frogs scored a pair in the first and two more in the third to stretch out a 4-0 lead but the Red Raiders clawed back with three in the bottom half of the third, closing the TCU lead to one, 4-3.

A pair of Texas Tech freshmen sparked the third-inning rally as Dylan Maxcey would work a walk to be the Red Raiders' first baserunner of the game with one out. Tracer Lopez recorded the first single in the next at-bat to advance Maxcey into scoring position. The duo was the first of five-straight batters to reach base after a leadoff strikeout. Nolen Hester knocked home Maxcey with an RBI single and Gage Harrelson followed with an RBI single to score Lopez. Later in the frame, Hester scored on a wild pitch for the third run.

TCU answered Tech's three runs with one in the fourth, three more in the fifth and one more in the sixth to build a 9-3 lead before the Red Raiders went to bat in the bottom of the sixth.

The Red Raiders owned two scoring innings in the game, three earlier in the third, and posted a second three-run spurt in the sixth. Two of the three runs came with the first two at-bats as Austin Green was hit-by-pitch to start the inning and Gavin Kash followed with his Big 12 best 12th home run of the season.

A pair of walks issued by TCU starter Kole Klecker put Ryan Brome and Lopez aboard. TCU made a mound visit prior to the next at-bat with Hester due up but elected to leave Klecker in the game, and on pitch No. 103 of the outing, Hester laced a single through the right side scoring the third run of the inning which ended the start for Klecker.

TCU looked to Cohen Feser to finish the inning. Harrelson nearly knocked in the fourth run of the frame if not for a highlight reel-worthy catch by the centerfielder to halt the rally, and end the inning. Kevin Bazzell jumped on Feser for a double to start the seventh inning and came around to score making it a 9-7 game, but that would be as close as Tech would get.

The Horned Frogs' third arm of the game, Garrett Wright, recorded the final nine outs, keeping Tech off the scoreboard and allowed one hit in the appearance – a single by Harrelson in the ninth. With the hit, Harrelson owns three hits in each game versus TCU in the series.

Tech's Saturday starter Mason Molina allowed a career-high seven runs in a 4 1/3 inning start. Jase Lopez followed Molina and then Taber Fast made his first appearance out of the bullpen since March 15 succeeding Lopez. Neither could keep TCU off the scoreboard.

Of the Horned Frogs' 13 hits, 10 were multi-base hits with five home runs and five doubles. The five homers matched a season-high allowed to Texas on Sunday, March 26.

Kyle Robinson finished the game. It was his third appearance this season out of the bullpen having three starts this season, including the season opener on Feb. 17. He retired the final out of the eighth and faced four batters in the ninth, issuing one walk in a no-hit relief effort.

"[Kyle] came in and made some pitches with the bases loaded and kind of gave us a chance there," added Tadlock. "The kid has a really good arm, obviously, if you start him opening day you feel like he's got a chance to be really good, right? Maybe we're finding a role for him back there, at the back end of the game if you want to say. It's not easy to come in, in that spot, and he came in and executed some pitches."

Up Next
The series concludes on Sunday at 2 p.m. with the series win on the line. The last time these two teams faced off for a Sunday rubber match was the Horned Frogs' last visit to Lubbock in 2021. The Red Raiders won the finale 17-7 in seven innings.