1. Red Raider of the Game
Junior outfielder Stephen Smith went 1-3 today, accounting for 1 of the 4 Tech RBI's and 2 of their runs. He walked to start off the 3rd inning, coming across the plate later in the inning for the first Red Raider run of the day. In the 4th inning, he would take the second pitch way over the left field wall, bouncing near the parking lot of the Frazier Alumni Pavilion.
Watch: The Bull! Smith crushes a solo HR deep over the fence in LF to give #TexasTech a 4-1 lead. #WreckEm https://t.co/q3LLpF1rdB
— Texas Tech Baseball (@TTU_Baseball) April 23, 2016
2. Play That Impacted the Game
Just as the Red Raiders used the 7th inning yesterday to take control of the game, the Horns used 4 straight singles to score a pair of runs, going up 6-4. There were 2 straight very close plays at first base where the runner may have been out, but was called safe. The crowd certainly felt they were out, and coach Tadlock came out once to make a small argument about it.
3. Stat of the Game
13. After Raley singled and stole second base in the 5th inning, Tech wouldn't get a base runner again until the 9th inning and Smith got hit by a pitch. The Horns retired 14 batters in a row, killing any chance of Tech adding any runs while adding their own to win the game.
4. Forgotten Play of the Game
In the top of the 9th inning, Gurwitz would double to right and Smith was able to get the ball back to the infield quickly. Texas scored 1 run, but catcher Kholeton Sanchez would get the ball as the next runner came across the plate. He missed the tag, but the runner missed the plate, and the home plate ump made no signal. Sanchez noticed this, and quickly went to tag the runner before he knew he had missed the plate. Although it didn't mean anything in the end, 7-4 is a lot better than 8-4 when trying to make a 9th inning comeback.
5. Big Reason Tech Lost the Game
Tech was shut down in the last half of the game with no runs after the 4th, and no hits after the 5th. Tech would get outhit 12-6 as well as leaving the bases loaded in the first inning. Pitcher Ryan Moseley took the loss today, pitching 2.1 innings, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs. His command wasn't as strong as it has been lately, using 41 pitches to get 7 outs. Tech looks to win the series in the finale tomorrow at 2:00pm. This will be their last home game until the season finale series against west Virginia next month.