No. 11 Tech Upends No. 3 Longhorns in Opener - Texas Tech Red Raiders - TexasTech.com

techsooper.blogspot.com AUSTIN, Texas – No. 11 Texas Tech baseball scored five runs over the fourth and fifth innings and received 2.2 shutout innings of relief from Ryan Sublette to take a 6-3 win over No. 3 Texas on Friday afternoon in the first of three games at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Five of the Red Raiders' (29-10; 9-7) six hits went for extra bases, and the Tech outfield took away three extra-base hits from the Longhorns in handing Texas (34-10; 12-4) its first Friday loss of the season.

Tech starter Patrick Monteverde allowed two earned runs on four hits as he dealt into the fifth inning, outdueling potential first-round pick Ty Madden for the Longhorns. Tech scored all six of its runs against Madden (6-2), matching his career high in runs allowed.

Sublette (6-1) spelled Monteverde in the fifth and retired eight of the 10 batters he faced to maintain the three-run advantage through seven. Three different freshmen combined to keep the Horns off the board in the eighth, and Connor Queen took over to close out his fifth save of the year.

Center fielder Dillon Carter and right fielder Easton Murrell combined for three diving catches in the outfield that saved at least three runs from scoring. Carter's first grab came in the second with a runner in scoring position and two outs as he came running in and dove for the catch.

Murrell followed with his grab in a key spot an inning later. The Longhorns had already scored two in the third to take a 2-1 lead and threatened with runners on the corners and two outs. A Douglas Hodo III line drive was sent in the air to shallow right and Murrell came diving in to prevent UT from adding onto the lead.

Carter made the final web gem during the bottom of the ninth with one on and one out. Zach Zubia sent a shot to deep left center field, and Carter laid out at the track to pull it in. Queen would strike out the next batter to end the game.

Offensively, Braxton Fulford opened the scoring with a solo blast off Madden in the second, his 10^th home run of the season and third in the last five games. Fulford finished 1-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored as he came around in the fourth on a two-out triple from Cody Masters, who scored on a wild pitch to give Tech a 3-2 lead in the fourth.

Tech broke things open in the fifth as the first three batters all hit safely and a sacrifice fly from Jace Jung capped off a three-spot. Carter opened the inning with a double to the gap, and Parker Kelly reached with a well-placed bunt towards the left side of the infield. With runners on the corners, Dru Baker drove them in as he found the left field gap for a two-run double, later scoring on Jung's sacrifice fly.

Baker added another double in the seventh to finish 2-for-5 with two RBI. Dating back to the midweek game against New Mexico, Baker has four hits on the week, all for extra bases, as he compiled his team-leading 18^th multi-hit game and led the Red Raiders in RBI on Friday.

UP NEXT
The Red Raiders will look to secure the series win on Saturday as the second game of the three-game set has been moved up to a 12 p.m. start, it was announced Friday morning. Television coverage is TBD. The Red Raiders will start right-handed pitcher Micah Dallas (1-2, 3.23) against Longhorn right-hander Tristan Stevens (7-1, 2.74).

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