No. 17 Texas Tech baseball team blows lead but beats New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Texas Tech baseball catcher Kevin Bazzell is out of the lineup at the moment, and his backup is taking advantage of the opportunity for extended playing time.
Dylan Maxcey hit a go-ahead, three-run double in the sixth inning and No. 17 Texas Tech held on to beat New Mexico 11-8 Tuesday in a non-conference game.
Texas Tech (10-2) led 7-0 in the second inning and fell behind 8-7 after five. In the sixth, Tech loaded the bases with a leadoff double from Gavin Kash, Cade McGee being hit by a pitch with one out and Damian Bravo getting hit by a pitch with two outs.
Maxcey scored them all with his double and scored on an error when New Mexico first baseman Reed Spenrath misplayed a ball off Travis Sanders' bat.
Bazzell, the Red Raiders' 3-hole hitter, has been sidelined since last weekend by an illness, and isn't expected to play in the opening Big 12 series this weekend against No. 22 Texas, Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. Maxcey, a sophomore from Friendswood, and Davis Rivers, a freshman from Waller, have filled in for Bazzell.
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Kash homered leading off the game and finished 3 for 6. Red-hot Damian Bravo doubled twice and drove in a run. The Red Raiders' sophomore left fielder went into the day leading the Big 12 in doubles and increased his total to 12.
Tech scored five runs in the first. After Kash pulled his fourth homer to right-center, the Red Raiders got two-run singles from Sanders and T.J. Pompey.
In the second, McGee singled home a run and came home on Bravo's opposite-field double to right.
UNM (7-6) rallied with four runs in the second, three in the third and Konner Kinkade's run-scoring fielder's choice in the fifth. Kindake had a two-run single in the second and an RBI single in the third.
Zane Petty (1-0) allowed the fifth-inning run, but the Red Raiders' rally made Petty a winner with his two innings of middle relief.
The Lobos raked starting pitcher Taber Fast for five runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings, and Derek Bridges yielded two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning.
Trendan Parish pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save. UNM got the potential tying run to the plate via a single and a two-out error, but Parish retired Jake Holland on a fly ball to left.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech baseball blows seven-run lead, but rallies past New Mexico
