The Texas Tech baseball team managed only five hits off Kent State pitching in a weather-delayed series opener Saturday at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park.
The Red Raiders made the most of them.
Kurt Wilson hit a three-run homer, Dillon Carter a two-run single and Owen Washburn a two-run double as Tech beat Kent State 10-7. And the Red Raiders’ first hit was an RBI single from Ty Coleman that scored their first run.
Kent State pitchers walked 10 batters, hit two and eight of those dozen scored. How does a team put up double-digit runs with only five hits? With a lot of help. And a lot of patience.
“Tad (Tech coach Tim Tadlock) just tells you, ‘Get your pitch, and when you get it, let them know,’ ” said Wilson, whose three-run homer to left gave Tech a 4-2 lead in the first inning.
Kent State went ahead 5-4 in the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Justin Miknis and Mike McNamara, a pair of returning second-team all-conference players from last season. Then Golden Flashes relief pitcher Ben Cruikshank (0-2) couldn’t locate in the bottom of the inning.
Cruikshank worked a three-up, three-down inning in the fifth. Against the first six batters in the sixth, he issued four walks and hit a batter. Jace Jung and Wilson walked leading off, and then after Dalton Porter bunted foul with two strikes, Hudson White drew a walk and Washburn a bases-loaded walk.
Cruikshank hit Parker Kelly with a slow breaking ball, making Tech’s lead 6-5, and Carter lined the first pitch he saw back up the middle for two more runs.
Washburn’s two-out, two-run double in the seventh cashed in walks to Jung and White.
“When you start talking about amateur hitters, the better they can stay in the strike zone, the better they’re going to be,” Tadlock said. “There’s obviously a learning curve there, learning the strike zone, learning what you can handle. Baseball is a game of failure, and what you can do is go up there and try to move on the right pitch.”
Jung drew four walks and scored three times. With pitchers working carefully to the Red Raiders’ returning consensus all-American and cleanup hitter, Jung has only three hits in the first five games but nine walks.
“Jace has always had a good eye and always known the strike zone,” Tadlock said, “and did a good job today of staying in it.”
Miknis hit a two-run homer for Kent State (1-3) in the first inning, and Justin Kirby’s solo shot in the second narrowed Tech’s lead to 4-3. But Tech starter Andrew Morris settled down and pitched into the sixth, striking out 10.
In his first two starts, the transfer from Colorado Mesa has allowed nine runs in nine innings but struck out 16.
“The command is definitely not where I want it to be,” said Morris, who walked two and hit a batter in a 91-pitch outing. “I feel like it took me a little bit to find my rhythm, so I just need to work on finding it earlier.”
Morris usually works with a 92-94-mph two-seam fastball and a low-80s slider. He threw a lot of changeups against Kent State, which had three left-handed hitters among the top six in the order.
Brendan Girton (2-0) got the win with 2 1/3 innings in relief. He fanned three and gave up a two-out, two-run single to Mack Timbrook in the eighth that narrowed the gap to 10-7.
Freshman righthander Trendan Parish struck out three of the four batters he faced in the ninth for his second save. True to his excitable nature, Parish punched the air after he fanned Collin Mathews with a man on to end it.
In three appearances covering seven innings, Parish has now faced 24 batters, allowed three hits and struck out nine.
Kent State leadoff and 2-hole batters Kyle Jackson and Mathews struck out four times each.
Tech pitchers struck out 17 and walked three.
“I think they probably would trade the Ks if they’d just go put goose eggs up there,” Tadlock said. “You’d have to ask them, but pitchers do like the strikeout, for sure. Makes for good entertainment, I guess.”
The two teams are scheduled for a doubleheader at noon Sunday.
Easton Murrell, who started Tech’s first two games at third base, is probably another week away from getting back into action. Murrell suffered a hamstring injury trying to leg out a ground ball the previous Saturday against Auburn, and Tadlock said he was told it was a two-week injury.
TEXAS TECH 10, KENT STATE 7
Kent State 211 001 020 — 7 8 0
Texas Tech 400 004 20x — 10 5 0
Dell, Cruikshank (5), Ware (7), Bickerstaff (8) and Miknis; Morris, Hitt (6), Girton (7), Parish (9) and White. W—Girton (2-0). L—Cruikshank (0-2). Sv—Parish (2). 2B—Kent State, Jackson (2), Miknis (2), McNamara (1); Texas Tech, Washburn (1). HR—Kent State, Miknis (1), Kirby (2); Texas Tech, Wilson (1). Records: Kent State 1-3, Texas Tech 3-2.
