LUBBOCK, Texas – Texas Tech rallied from behind on Friday night, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Sam Houston 12-10 at Rip Griffin Park. The Red Raiders recorded four-straight two-out singles in the eighth, the last three each being RBI hits.
Ty Coleman, who was not in Friday’s starting lineup, led off the eighth with a single which capped his impressive night off the bench hitting 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
Gavin Kash nearly lifted his second home run of the evening to follow Coleman’s single to start the eighth as a hard-hit ball flew just to the right of the right field foul pole. After an official review of the near home run, the ruling on the field was upheld leaving the Red Raiders still trailing 10-9. Kash would eventually fly out and Austin Green struck out to follow for the second out.
“I didn’t think twice about it,” said head coach Tim Tadlock when asked about the review. “I knew we had at-bats left, I knew the guys were going to keep trying to grind at-bats away, to win pitches and do what needed to be done there. We’re fortunate that balls found some holes, and I want to say Ty put together a good at-bat to get the thing started.”
With Coleman still standing on first base representing the game-tying run, the Red Raiders dug in starting with Hudson White connecting for the first of four-straight base hits in the rally. The runs would be pushed across by a pair of pinch hitters, Drew Woodcox and Dylan Maxcey, and Zac Vooletich hitting in the middle of the duo.
Woodcox tied the game with the first pitch he saw, 10-10, muscling a ball into shallow right field. Vooletich took a 2-2 pitch into left to give Tech the lead, 11-10. Maxcey worked the count full before slapping his RBI single into left field to give Tech an insurance run.
Sam Houston’s offense was firing all night as the base paths were busy using 13 hits while eight walks were issued by Tech pitching as well as a hit-by-pitch. The Bearkats scored in every inning until the eighth and ninth innings.
Derek Bridges earned the win (1-0) in relief by retiring the final out in the top of the eighth. He inherited runners on the corners and two outs and picked off the baserunner on first before having to retire the batter he faced. Brandon Beckel earned his third save by securing the final three outs.
Tech outhit SHSU 15 to 13 but its offense used big scoring innings versus chipping away like the Bearkats. The Red Raiders pummeled Sam Houston for six runs in the second and scored three in the sixth in addition to its three-run rally in the eighth.
Joining Coleman as a multi-hit hitter on the evening was Kash’s 2-for-5 night that included his 21st home run of the season in the sixth. White and Vooletich finished 2-for-4 as well.
Up Next
Texas Tech will next be action back at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The finale is at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
