A freshman New Co-Newcomer of the week, a midweek game against the Aggies and the Frisco Classic all made up this week’s week in Red Raider Baseball

Tanner O’Tremba

Early in the week, it was announced that Texas Tech baseball freshman outfielder Tanner O’Tremba was named as the Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the week. This is the first weekly award for the Parker, Colorado, native.

In the series against Kentucky, O’Tremba hit .455 finishing 5-for-11 at the plate with eight RBI, including seven in the series finale on Sunday. He also hit a three-run blast Sunday in the third inning to break a 2-2 tie and spark a stretch of 10 unanswered runs by the Red Raiders, who went on to win 19-4. He might be new to the team, but he is already hitting .350 with three of his seven hits going for extra bases. He has accumulated two home runs and a double in five starts and currently ranks second on the team with 10 RBI.

New Mexico State

On Tuesday, the Red Raiders recorded their first shutout of the season against the New Mexico State Aggies. The Red Raiders (6-1) outhit the Aggies (7-2) 12-5 on the day with Tech putting up six runs through the middle three frames on the way to its sixth straight victory.

On the mound, Sophomore Bryce Bonnin pitched a career-high six innings, striking out three while walking two and giving up four hits. It was his second start as a Red Raider. The bullpen continued its strong start allowing just one hit over the final three frames and retiring all nine Aggies it faced with a double play to close it out. Trey Garlett, John McMillon, and Caleb Freeman all followed Bonnin.

On the other side of the ball, senior Brian Klein scored the first run of the ballgame in the second, cruising from first to score off a triple to the right field corner by Dylan Neuse. This was Neuse’s second RBI triple of his Red Raider career. If you haven’t kept track of Neuse this season, he has hit safely in all seven games as a Red Raider and recorded an RBI in six consecutive games. Tuesday also marked his team-leading fourth multi-RBI game of the season, while he and Klein share the team lead with four multi-hit games. Senior Cameron Warren hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to put the Red Raiders on the board and get that 4-0 lead. It is Warren’s second home run of the season. For the second time this season, he finished with three RBI.

The Frisco Classic

The Frisco Classic at Dr. Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, Texas, did not go as planned for the Red Raiders. To start out the weekend, their six-game winning streak came to an end after facing the Nebraska Huskers on Friday. Redshirt junior Erikson Lanning threw 5.0 scoreless innings with only two hits surrendered and a career-high seven strikeouts. This is becoming a regular for his as he also went 5.0 innings in his start last Friday against Kentucky, yielding no earned runs and striking out four. Josh Jung opened the scoring in the top of the third while driving a liner to center and hustling to turn it into a double. Klein drove him in to score one pitch later with a ground ball past the second baseman for his 10th RBI of the season. The effort by Jung and Klein put Tech in front 1-0, but Nebraska strung together a double, a walk and a pair of RBI singles that gave them the 2-1 lead. Overall against Nebraska, the Texas Tech Red Raiders struck out 13 times, a season-high. The Red Raiders drew four walks against Husker relievers but were unable to pick up any hits.

Saturday was no better as they took another loss in the tournament, this time to the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Sophomores Gabe Holt and Dylan Neuse were the only two Red Raiders with hits. Neuse was first to score got the Red Raiders with a one-out single, stole second and forced a balk that put him at third, before reading a pitch in the dirt to score on a wild pitch that tied the game at one. He would go 1-for-3 on the day. Holt finished 2-for-4 on the day, scoring a run and three stolen bases. In the sixth, he helped the Red Raiders trim a Mississippi State two-run lead to one after a base hit, wild pitch and stolen base put him on third for junior Josh Jung, who drove him in with a fielder’s choice in the infield. On the mound, Junior right-hander Caleb Kilian (0-2) received the loss after giving up two runs, one earned, on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk in the 3.2 innings he pitched, but the blame was not all on him. Texas Tech used a total of seven pitchers in the contest on Saturday.

Sunday’s game against Sam Houston State was cancelled due to weather. It was announced Sunday night that Josh Jung and Gabe Holt both received All-Tournament Team honors. They were the only Red Raiders to receive the honor.

Next Up

The Red Raiders will face San Diego State on the road on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading back to Dan Law Field on Friday for a three-game series against Wichita State.