Kash powers Tech past No. 2 Florida

Saturday, June 3

Gainesville, FL

5 p.m. CT / 6 p.m. local

Texas Tech Athletics

41-21

Florida

45-15

Florida

Texas Tech

June 03, 2023 | Baseball

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By: Matt Burkholder

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Gavin Kash and strong pitching powered Texas Tech past No. 2 Florida, 5-4, in Saturday's Gainesville Regional contest at Condron Ballpark. Kash smashed two home runs, including a two-out blast in the bottom of the eighth to set the table for Brandon Beckel to earn his seventh save and send the Red Raiders to the Regional Championship game Sunday night.

"It's definitely a lot easier to win [a regional] when winning the first two than losing the second or first one," said head coach Tim Tadlock when asked to comment on the significance of the win. "It's very hard to do it the other way. Definitely puts you in a good spot. At the same time, I think we got a group that has the utmost respect for the other teams and the game. We'll go eat dinner. Enjoy it for a little bit, and then get ready to go tomorrow."

Texas Tech will await the outcome of Sunday's afternoon elimination game set between Florida and UConn. The winner of the contest will advance to Sunday evening's game at 5 p.m. CT versus the Red Raiders.

The two heavyweights went toe-to-toe Saturday night in a classic postseason game in front of 7,311 fans, the second-largest postseason crowd for the Gators at Condron Ballpark, and the ninth-largest crowd it has ever had.

The Red Raiders put on a good show as all five runs Tech scored were via the home run ball, meanwhile, the Gators scored two of their four runs with the long ball. The Red Raiders, fueled before by home runs, improved to 21-4 this season when hammering two or more home runs in a game. Tech owns 93 homers this season, its most in a single season since 95 registered during the 1998 season, a number powered by Kash's 26 homers, the second-most in program history behind Joe Dillon's 33 in 1997.

"Really proud of [Gavin]," said Tadlock. "He got some pitches to hit today and just proud that he's moving on the right pitch and he's present. He has, as you guys mentioned [a slump], all hitters go through maybe rough patches and one thing he hadn't wavered with was his preparation. So, again, he'll be ready to go tomorrow and take this with a grain of salt and be ready to go."

It wasn't just the long ball that won the game for Texas Tech as starter Kyle Robinson squared off with Florida's flamethrower, along with a handful of web gems to keep the Gators from scoring a couple of times. Florida manufactured the first run of the game in the top of the fourth using a sacrifice fly to cash in on a leadoff double to start the frame; a double play ended the threat for more, recorded from the outfield as Nolen Hester tracked a ball to the warning track with a runner in motion and fired a relay back to first base for the second out.

The Red Raiders answered the Gators in the home half of the fourth using the first of their three home runs on Saturday. Austin Green hammered his 12th of the season to give Tech a 2-1 lead after a nine-pitch battle, lifting a 3-2 pitch after four-straight foul balls, over the right field fence. The two-run homer was aided by Kevin Bazzell drawing a walk, the first free pass of the evening issued by Florida.

A second timely double play kept Texas Tech in front that closed the top of the fifth. The Red Raiders and Robinson found themselves in a bases-loaded jam with one out but escaped by forcing a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning without a run crossing the plate in a frame the Gators logged three of their eight hits in the game. Kash made matters worse for Florida as he led off the next half inning by hitting his 25th home run of the season to add to the Red Raider lead, 3-1. But the Gators answered back a half-inning later, tying the game in the top of the sixth as Jac Caglianone knocked a 0-2 fastball off reliever Ryan Free, his first batter in relief of Robinson, over the fence for his 29th home run of the season.

Kash was the response Texas Tech needed to break the 3-3 tie score in the bottom of the eighth. Zac Vooletich knocked a two-out single, followed by Kash hitting his second homer of the night. Florida added a run in the bottom of the ninth, charged to Derek Bridges before Beckel recorded the final two outs using just eight pitches.

Up Next
Texas Tech awaits the winner of Florida versus UConn, starting at 11 a.m. CT. The Red Raiders will face the winner of that contest at 5 p.m. CT in the Regional Championship. It is the Red Raiders' seventh-straight appearance in a regional championship game.