TCU quiets Red Raider bats, evens series | Texas Tech baseball takeaways
Louis Rodriguez and two relievers quieted the Texas Tech baseball team's bats and TCU beat the Red Raiders 4-2 Saturday in Fort Worth, snapping Tech's eight-game win streak.
Cade McGee's two-run double gave the Red Raiders a 2-1 lead in the second inning. TCU (21-12, 6-11) pulled even in the third on a Logan Maxwell triple and went ahead on Luke Boyers' base hit in the sixth. The Horned Frogs added an insurance run in the eighth on a bunt single by Peyton Chatagnier.
Austin Green had two of the eight hits for Tech (26-10, 9-8).
Rodriguez (4-1) pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. The sophomore righthander struck out four and walked two. Sophomore lefthander Ben Abeldt (2-0) got the win with 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
Kole Klecker, who's struggled this season after leading the Big 12 in victories last year, came on with two aboard and no outs in the ninth and struck out T.J. Pompey, Gavin Kash and Damian Bravo for his first save.
The rubber match is scheduled at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lupton Stadium.
Setting the scene: Preview, how to watch Texas Tech baseball at TCU
Around the conference: West Virginia getting healthy, hitting stride | Big 12 baseball power rankings
Here are takeaways:
Kyle Robinson did his part
The Red Raiders' starting pitcher went 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. It was the fourth time in Robinson's past five outings that he met the standard of a quality start: pitching at least six innings and allowing three or fewer runs.
However, in the past three of those quality starts, Robinson (3-4) has gotten a no-decision and two losses, the other coming in a 2-1 setback two weeks ago at Central Florida.
Lupton Stadium not kind to the Red Raiders
Tech has lost seven of its past 10 games at TCU, dating to 2016.
Tech's 7-1 victory Friday in the series opener was the Red Raiders' first triumph at TCU since 2018. The Horned Frogs swept the home series in 2022, the series in 2020 was canceled on account of the Covid outbreak and TCU won two of three in 2018.
You can't score 10+ runs every time
Tech went into the TCU series having put up double-digit run totals six games in a row, fueling a season-long win streak. That kind of offense can't last indefinitely, and it was borne out Saturday.
Damian Bravo and T.J. Pompey, who have been red-hot, both went hitless, Bravo taking an oh-for-5 and Pompey an oh-for-4 with three strikeouts.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: TCU quiets Red Raider bats, evens series | Texas Tech baseball takeaways
