Molina tosses gem in No. 16 Tech's 10-1 win

Friday, April 21

Lubbock, TX

6:30 p.m. CT

Texas Tech Athletics

28-12, 7-6

Baylor

14-24, 5-11

Baylor

Texas Tech

Molina tosses gem in No. 16 Tech's 10-1 win

April 21, 2023 | Baseball

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By: Matt Burkholder

LUBBOCK, Texas – Riding the left arm of sophomore starter Mason Molina, No. 16 Texas Tech cruised past Baylor, 10-1, Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Rip Griffin Park.

The southpaw pitcher set the tone for Texas Tech (28-12, 7-6 Big 12), striking out a career-high 12 while allowing just two hits; one in the first inning and the second in the seventh inning. In the middle of that stretch, he retired 14-straight batters during a point between the third and seventh innings. He tallied four three-up, three-down innings out of the seven he was on the mound for Friday evening.

"I thought he stayed in his delivery really well," said head coach Tim Tadlock. "He executed his pitches for seven innings, and threw the ball really well."

Molina's career-high 12 strikeouts were thrown in a single-game career-high 106 pitches. Molina had the longest outing by any Red Raider this season when he recorded the three outs in the seventh and set new career bests in innings pitched (7.0), strikeouts (12) and pitches (106).

And while Molina shined on the mound, he received plenty of run support, as Tech's 2-3-4 hitters (Ty Coleman, Gage Harrelson and Kevin Bazzell) went a combined 10-for-14 with five RBIs and five runs scored. Coleman contributed a career-high four runs scored and two runs batted in.

The Red Raiders sticks were red hot Friday, as the Tech offense exploded for 16 hits and 10 runs. With the 10-run performance, Tech moved to 17-1 this season when scoring in double digits. Six of the 16 hits were extra-base hits, as Coleman barreled a home run and recorded a pair of doubles to lead the way.

Coleman continued his strong week, as he is now 7-for-13 this week (.539) with three homers and six extra-base hits following his 4-for-5 Friday night. The designated hitter finished a triple shy of the cycle.

"I think he's just moving on the right pitch and hitting it hard," said Tadlock. "Ty tries to keep it pretty simple."

Bazzell's third hit of the night was an RBI double in the fifth inning. The two-bagger extended his nation-leading double total to 21 for the season. He finished 3-for-4 and reached base once with a walk.

The Red Raiders mashed three home runs in total. Coleman's first-inning long ball gave Tech a 1-0 lead. The second homer came off the bat of freshman Tracer Lopez, which was a three-run shot that broke the game wide open, pushing a 2-0 lead into a 5-0 lead. It was the first of six runs scored in a fourth inning that saw the order go around as 12 at-bats took place in the frame. Tech held an 8-0 lead after four were in the books.

The third and final homer came off the bat of the reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, Gavin Kash, who became the sixth Red Raider to reach 20 homers in a single season. The first baseman also moved into a three-way tie with Josh Brady (2004) and Dion Ruecker (1996) for fourth place on the single-season list.

Pitcher Andrew Devine came into the game in the eighth in relief of Molina and pitched the final six outs. The junior gave up just one hit in his two innings of work, a lead-off homer in the top of the ninth that broke up the shutout.

Up Next
Due to the inclement weather forecast on Sunday, Texas Tech and Baylor will complete their series by playing a doubleheader on Saturday.
Game one of the doubleheader will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday while the second game will follow approximately 30-45 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Ticket Information
For patrons that own single-game tickets to Sunday's contest, those tickets will be valid for the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. The ballpark will be cleared at the conclusion of game one. For those that previously purchased single-game tickets to Saturday's game, those tickets will only be valid for the first game of the doubleheader, which starts at 12 p.m.