OU tops Tech 9-6, takes Red Raiders out of title contention
The Texas Tech baseball team put a ton of pressure on Andrew Morris and Brandon Birdsell to carry their thin pitching staff through the rigors of the Big 12 schedule.
The Red Raiders' No. 1 and No. 2 starters made it all the way to the final weekend of the regular season before faltering.
Oklahoma beat No. 6 Tech 9-6 Friday night at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park, eliminating the Red Raiders from Big 12 title contention with one date left in the regular season.
Birdsell (8-3) started the night with a 2.12 earned-run average, lowest among Big 12 qualifiers, and he gave up a season-high six runs to the Sooners. He lasted four innings, his shortest start since he also went four on opening weekend against Auburn.
In a 13-8 victory in Thursday night's series opener, Oklahoma hit six home runs off Morris, who yielded a season-high nine runs. He'd had a 2.93 ERA over his previous 10 appearances.
"I think those guys are going to be fine," Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. "I mean, those guys have thrown the ball outstanding every time we've sent them to the mound other than the last two days.
"You can say every guy has a bad start every now and then, and you could say it's a bad start or you could say Oklahoma was really good. I think it's probably a combination of both."
When the two teams play the regular-season finale at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oklahoma (33-19, 15-8) will be trying to tie No. 24 TCU (34-18, 16-8) for the conference championship. Tech (35-18, 14-9) will be playing for seeding in next week's Big 12 tournament at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
That, and to improve its standing for the NCAA postseason. Projected by some college baseball analysts to be a regional host after it swept then-No. 3 Oklahoma State on the road last weekend, Tech jeopardized those chances by losing the first two to OU.
The last time Tech started an NCAA tournament on the road was in 2014, when the Red Raiders' path to their first College World Series started with a regional in Coral Gables, Florida.
Cole Stilwell energized the home crowd with a long, three-run homer to left field that brought the Red Raiders within 9-5 in the sixth inning. Then Hudson White chopped another run off the deficit with a run-scoring single in the seventh.
Still in the seventh, with two out and two on, Dillon Carter worked a full count and lined a hard one-hopper back up the middle. But Peyton Graham was positioned perfectly, and the OU shortstop turned it into a routine groundout.
Tech didn't threaten the rest of the way as Trevin Michael pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth for his eighth save.
Oklahoma first baseman Blake Robertson hit a two-run homer and left fielder Kendall Pettis hit a two-run double. Graham and third baseman Wallace Clark also drove in two runs apiece for the Sooners.
Robertson's homer and the first of Clark's two run-scoring singles gave the Sooners a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Birdsell previously had allowed only three runs in first innings all season.
His issue, Tadlock said, "was probably locating the slider, more than anything. He just wasn't getting it where he needed to get it. And they hit some fastballs, and hit some really good."
Graham had an RBI single in the second and a sacrifice fly in the fourth that made it 6-2. Pettis' two-run double — a line shot pulled into the left-field corner — came off Derek Bridges and opened it up to 9-2.
That was a measure of redemption for Pettis who, in the second inning, misplayed back-to-back fly balls that resulted in a triple for Owen Washburn and an RBI double for White. Pettis lost Washburn's liner in the sun, ducked and turned away. The ball rolled to the wall.
Then he broke in and toward left-center on the ball White hit, and it landed behind him. That made the score 4-1.
Kurt Wilson had three singles for Tech and hit the ball even harder on two outs. With two out and two on in the first, Wilson drove a ball to the warning track in right. John Spikerman ran back, reached up and caught it just before he ran into the wall in front of the Tech bullpen.
With the leadoff man on in the ninth, he lined out to left.
Spikerman was the second Sooners outfielder in two nights to take a big hit away from the Tech shortstop. Wilson came up with the bases loaded Thursday night and drove a ball to the wall in left-center that Tanner Tredaway caught with no room to spare.
"That's all a hitter can do, right? Hit it hard," Tadlock said.
Of note
Relief pitcher Trendan Parish, who hasn't pitched since May 3 because of an arm injury, is not expected to pitch again this season, Tadlock said. The freshman righthander is 2-2 with a team-high six saves and 20 appearances, second most on the team.
Tadlock reiterated, as he said last week, that relief pitcher Brendan Girton could be available again at some point in the postseason. The sophomore righthander hasn't pitched since March 20, but has been a key high-leverage reliever when healthy.
"There's a chance Girton could be available," Tadlock said. "There's a chance." ...
Tech has lost four games in a row at home for the first time since April 25-29, 2015 when the Red Raiders dropped two to Oklahoma State and two to Grand Canyon. In the current streak, they lost an April 24 series finale to West Virginia and an April 26 game against Abilene Christian before the two to OU.
OKLAHOMA 9, TEXAS TECH 6
Oklahoma 311 130 000 — 9 11 0
Texas Tech 011 003 100 — 6 11 1
Sandlin, Martinez (6), Atwood (7), Michael (8) and Crooks; Birdsell, Bridges (5), Beckel (6), Devine (9) and Stilwell. W—Sandlin (6-3). L—Birdsell (8-3). Sv—Michael (8). 2B—Oklahoma, Spikerman (6), Tredaway (13), Pettis (4); Texas Tech, Murrell (7), White (10). 3B—Texas Tech, Washburn (2). HR—Oklahoma, Robertson (4); Texas Tech, Stilwell (9). Records: Oklahoma 33-19, 15-8; Texas Tech 35-18, 14-9.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: College baseball: OU tops Tech 9-6, takes Red Raiders out of title contention
