By Ty Parker
The No. 13 Texas Tech baseball team wrapped its five-game home stand with a 5-4 victory over Stetson Monday afternoon at Rip Griffin Park.
The Red Raiders (16-6, 1-2) rebounded from a disappointing effort on Sunday to bounce the Hatters (9-14) thanks to a strong start from sophomore right-hander Bryce Bonnin (2-0), who delivered a career-high 6.1 innings of one-hit ball.
Tech held a 5-0 lead through six before Bonnin exited the game. Stetson put up a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth to pull within one, but sophomore right-hander Ryan Sublette threw the final inning to close out the win and earn his first career save.
Sophomore shortstop Easton Murrell made his first start as a Red Raider and jumpstarted the Tech offense in the third inning with a leadoff double, his first hit in the scarlet and black. A double from sophomore Dylan Neuse scored Murrell for the first run of the game.
Following a walk to sophomore outfielder Gabe Holt, junior third baseman Josh Jung delivered a two-run triple to make it 3-0. Jung would score on a sacrifice fly from junior second baseman Brian Klein to cap a four-run third.
Jung led the Red Raiders at the plate, going 3-for-4 with his first triple of the year and two RBI. The San Antonio, Texas, native’s three-hit performance was his second of the year and extends his hitting streak to seven games. Five of his seven hits over the five-game weekend went for extra bases.
Sophomore outfielder Cody Masters recorded his second multi-hit effort in four games played this weekend. He went 2-for-4 with a double to mark his fifth multi-hit game of the season. Neuse, who batted leadoff for the first time this year, also went 2-for-4 with a double for his team-leading 12th multi-hit game of the season.
Tech added what would prove to be the game-winning run in the fourth after Masters led off with a double and ended up at third on a failed pickoff attempt catch by the Hatter second baseman. Senior Cameron Warren dropped a perfectly placed hit to right center that allowed Masters to touch home with Warren racing around for the double.
Stetson battled back in the seventh with a one-out double that brought in its first run of the game. Following a stolen base, a sacrifice fly made it 5-2 going to the eighth. A double, a triple and a sac fly allowed the Hatters to score two more in the next inning to make it 5-4 going to the ninth.
Sublette got a pair of fly balls to work around a one-out single. With two away and the tying run on second, he earned a strikeout swinging for the final out of the game.
The Red Raiders will continue Big 12 play next weekend with a trip to Manhattan, Kansas, to take on Kansas State. The three-game series begins Friday with a 6 p.m. first pitch from Tointon Family Stadium. All three games will be available on ESPN3 and can be heard on the Texas Tech Sports Network.
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