Red Raiders exit Big 12 tournament

Saturday, May 27

Arlington, TX

12:30 p.m. CT

Texas Tech Athletics

39-20

Oklahoma State

40-17

Texas Tech

Oklahoma State

May 27, 2023 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score-gm. 1 (PDF)Box Score-gm. 2 (PDF)Highlights Press Conference

By: Matt Burkholder

ARLINGTON, Texas – Texas Tech dropped a pair of games versus No. 18 Oklahoma State on semifinal Saturday, 8-1 and 6-5, in the Big 12 Championship double-elimination tournament. For the first time since 1998, the Red Raiders won their first two games of the Big 12 Championship and drew the Cowboys who staved off elimination in game one, which forced a second game that saw the Red Raiders lose control of a 5-0 lead after the top of the eighth.

"Tip your hat to Oklahoma State," said head coach Tim Tadlock. "They pitched awful well for eighteen innings today. They executed pitches. No big surprise there. Rob's [Walton] been doing that a long time with guys. There were a couple of guys out there that hadn't really had a lot of starts and those guys threw the ball really well. It's kind of gut-wrenching obviously right there, you know, having a five-run lead in the eighth."

In the win-or-home second game, the Red Raiders seized the momentum back after scoring one run over the previous 13 innings, capitalized by a Hudson White moonshot that put the Red Raiders in front 5-0 in the top of the fifth inning.

OSU's bullpen inherited Nolen Hester and Gage Harrelson, who worked walks to start the top of the fifth, and on the first pitch from reliever Drew Blake, Kevin Bazzell beat the shift to plate the first of five runs that scored. Gavin Kash provided the second RBI of the frame, but it was a productive second out of the inning, reaching on a fielder's choice that pushed home Harrelson for a 2-0 lead. With two outs, Zac Vooletich and White both manufactured a pair of big league at-bats as Vooletich and White both worked out of 0-2 pitch counts. Vooletich kept the inning alive with a single to put runners on the corners while White mashed a three-run 421-foot home run on a 3-2 offering for the 5-0 lead.

The Red Raiders were guided by a phenomenal start by sophomore Kyle Robinson in the second contest. In his fourth start this season, and first since March 12 versus Iowa, Robinson fired five shutout innings while striking out a career-high eight batters.

Ryan Free faced seven batters to get past the next two innings in relief of Robinson but could not record an out in the eighth as the first three batters he faced registered hits before his exit. The OSU rally was jump-started by a two-run home run as the second hit of the inning after a leadoff single. Ethan Coombes, who inherited a runner on first in relief of Free, faced one batter and produced a potential ground-out that had the chance for a double play, but it was a shortstop error that continued the onslaught inning without an out. Tech turned to Brandon Beckel with the tying run coming to the plate after Coombes' faced one-batter. He started by recording a strikeout, but the next batter he went against loaded the bases with a single to center field that was inches from being caught by a diving Dillon Carter. A wild pitch allowed the next run to score, making it 5-3, while the other two runners advanced 90 feet to second and third on the throw that hit the backstop. After that, a sharply hit single to right field scored both runners, leveling the game 5-5.

The rally was finished the next inning, as the second batter of the ninth lifted a solo walk-off home run.

In the first game, the Cowboys took advantage of four walks, two hit-by-pitches and two errors over the first four innings as eight of the nine OSU hitters reached base safely to take a commanding 8-0 lead.

Zane Petty was lifted after a 2 1/3 inning start. He was dinged for six runs, five earned, and six hits. He struck out four. Zach Erdman was phenomenal in relief. He pitched four scoreless innings for a bright spot to end the game. It was a career-long performance for the freshman who did not allow a hit, struck out five, and allowed one base runner on a walk.

White provided the only offense for the Red Raiders in the opening game, the first of two home runs on the day for the sophomore catcher.

Up Next
Texas Tech, 39-21, awaits NCAA selection Monday, May 29, at 11 a.m. CT which airs live on ESPN2. Should Texas Tech be selected, it will be its seventh-consecutive advancement to NCAA Regional play.