The Red Raider basketball team was not the only Texas Tech team with a big weekend. For the first time this season, the No. 10 Texas Tech baseball team clinched its first series victory over a Big 12 Conference team. It was the second Big 12 series of the season for both the Red Raiders and Wildcats. Tech took a game in Austin two weeks ago but lost the series while K-State was swept at Oklahoma State last weekend.

Rainy weather forced Friday’s game to be rescheduled. Saturday was still cold and windy, but it was good enough for a doubleheader at Tointon Family Stadium in Manhattan. Tech outplayed KSU on its way to its first Big 12 series win of the season, sweeping the doubleheader at Kansas State, 11-4 and 4-3 respectively. The Red Raiders crushed 23 hits on the day. Fourteen of those hits came from game one of the series. Though Texas Tech trailing through four innings, they managed to score in each of the last five to secure the win. Three runs in the seventh were enough to break a tie and four in the eighth pushed the Red Raiders to victory. In game two, the Red Raiders were once again in the hole, but two runs in the third and two more in the fifth finally put them ahead. This was Tech’s sixth straight win over K-State and its third straight with in the Little Apple.

The final game of the series took place on Sunday afternoon. The Red Raiders held the lead through the seventh, but that lead came to an end late in the game. Though the Red Raiders outhit the Wildcats 9-6, they made a few defensive mistakes. The Wildcats were able to salvage the game with three runs against the Red Raiders in the bottom of the seventh. The Red Raiders were not able to recover. The final score was 5-4. Though the Red Raiders were hoping for a sweep, taking the series is still a victory. Texas Tech has not completed a sweep in Manhattan since 1997.

Coming Up

The Red Raiders are in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for a two-game series starting tonight. It is the first set of two midweek series between the two teams. The second set will take place April 23-24 in Lubbock. The Red Raiders return the Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park this weekend for a three game series against Kansas.