Red Raiders roar back and roll ACU
A vocal segment of Texas Tech baseball fans groused when Tim Tadlock didn't try to get out of finishing a suspended game in which his team trailed Abilene Christian by six runs.
Perhaps they should have listened to the Tech coach describe a dream he had last week or the more tangible reality he pointed out: that the Red Raiders' lineup is hard to hold down at home. Tadlock said he dreamed that when the game resumed, the Red Raiders would hammer Wildcats pitching and have a 45-minute inning.
If not right away, that vision more or less materialized Tuesday. No. 24 Tech beat ACU 15-11, using an eight-run seventh inning and a seven-run eighth to overcome a 9-0 deficit. Gavin Kash, Austin Green and Dylan Maxcey all homered as the Red Raiders rallied from nine behind to win for the first time since 2019 against UT-Rio Grande Valley.
On April 25 in Abilene, ACU led 6-0 in the fourth inning when lightning in the area of Crutcher Scott Field triggered the suspension. Tadlock said he and ACU coach Rick McCarty agreed in the pre-game exchange of lineup cards to finish the game in Lubbock if weather stopped it given that they already had a game scheduled for Tuesday.
Tadlock said finishing the game was the right thing to do. And if a dream was shaky reasoning for resuming it, Tech's run-scoring ability at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park made sense. The Red Raiders produced a double-digit run total for the 22nd time this season and the 18th time in their home stadium.
The big blows in the seventh were a two-run homer by Kash, a two-run double by Nolen Hester and a two-run homer by Green that narrowed the gap to 9-8. Ty Coleman also had an RBI groundout in the inning, and Hester scored on a passed ball.
In the eighth, Tech tied it 9-9 on an infield hit by Kevin Bazzell and went ahead on a Green groundout. Zac Vooletich added a two-run single and Maxcey a three-run homer.
Before the Red Raiders' eruption, ACU starting pitcher Max Huffling, carrying over his start in Abilene, took a no-hitter through 5 1/3 innings. The Wildcats gave the 6-foot-9 lefthander more run support with a run-scoring double in the fifth from Miller Ladusau and a two-run single in the sixth from Logan Britt.
They scored two in the ninth off Kyle Robinson, the last of seven Tech pitchers. Ethan Coombes (2-0) got the win, allowing one hit in a scoreless 1 2/3 innings of relief.
Tech (33-16) and ACU (29-18) were set to play another game Tuesday night. The latter was postponed from April 4 because of weather.
TEXAS TECH 15, ABILENE CHRISTIAN 11
Texas Tech 000 000 870 — 15 11 2
Abilene Christian 000 612 002 — 11 13 0
Petty, Dathe (4), J. Lopez (4), Girton (4), Lysik (7), Coombes (7), Robinson (9) and Maxcey; Huffling, Stephenson (6), Smith (7), Morgan (8), Meyer (9) and Tweedt. W—Coombes (2-0). L—Smith (2-2). 2B—Texas Tech, Hester (12), Kash (11); ACU, Tweedt 2 (9), Rook (6), Ladusau (9), Williams (8). HR—Texas Tech, Kash (22), Green (9), Maxcey (3). Records: Texas Tech 33-16, ACU 29-18.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech baseball team roars back and rolls Abilene Christian
