Striving for the conference crown

The week started with a Tuesday-Wednesday series against the UTRGV Vaqueros at Rip Griffin Park. Unfortunately for the Red Raiders, Tuesday’s game was less than perfect. Texas Tech committed a season-high four error, including two in the second inning which allowed the Vaqueros to pull off five runs in the frame. The Red Raiders only managed five hits during the 6-3 loss. On Wednesday, the Red Raiders started in the hole. The UTRGV Vaqueros held a 9-0 lead early in the game, but Tech managed to climb out of the whole. They tied the game in the fourth and it was all good news from there. The Red Raiders collected a season-high 20 hits with home runs from Josh Jung, Cameron Warren and Kurt Wilson. It was the largest comeback since overcoming a 9-0 deficit against Dallas Baptist in 2010. Tech finished with nine extra-base hits in the match. Nine different players recorded hits, five different Red Raiders crossed home multiple times and five recorded multi-RBI games.

Over the weekend, the Red Raiders continued Big 12 play as they traveled to Norman to face Oklahoma for its final Big 12 road series of the regular season. Once again, the Red Raiders started the series opener in the hole, but managed to overcome the 6-3 deficit with ease. Senior Cameron Warren and junior Josh Jung combined for seven hits and eight runs on Friday. Warren finished 4-for-4, a career high, with two home runs and a double for his second career multi-home run game. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Week, Josh Jung, finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and four runs scored. He even gave Tech its first run of the series in the second. In true Red Raider fashion, Texas Tech recorded another comeback on Saturday. They plated four runs in the seventh inning for securing the series victory with a 7-3 win. Junior infielders Brian Klein put Tech in front with a two-run double to right and Jung followed with a two-run blast that extended the lead to three in the seventh. Holt, Warren and Fulford all recorded multi-hit games on Saturday. Texas Tech is now 7-10 this season when trailing after the sixth inning. Sundays are for completing sweeps and that is exactly what the Red Raiders did. This time though there was no hole to climb out of. Texas Tech held the lead early in the game and there was no stopping them after that. Saturday’s victory clinched Tech’s first series win in Norman since 1999, but Sunday’s win gave the Red Raiders its third sweep of the Sooners under head coach Tim Tadlock. The Red Raiders outscored the Sooners 25-13 in the series and have now out-run opponents 93-45 over its last 10 games.

The top players this week were Josh Jung and Cam Warren. Jung hit .550 with five doubles, two dingers, five walks and six RBI. Warren hit .556 for the week with three home runs, three doubles, seven walks and seven RBI. Sophomore right-hander Bryce Bonnin also deserves honorable mention. He tossed six shutout innings before turning it over to the bullpen on Sunday.

The Red Raiders return home to host a midweek doubleheader against FIU on Tuesday at Rip Griffin Park, weather permitting. Following the finals break, Tech will close out the regular season with a three-game series against TCU on May 16-18 in Lubbock.