No. 5 Red Raider Baseball Opens Season With Four-Game Sweep of San Francisco
The No.5 Texas Tech baseball team opened the 2015 season with a four-game sweep of the University of San Francisco Dons over the weekend.
The Red Raiders opened the season with a 9-7 victory over San Francisco in front of a school-record Opening Day crowd of 4,375 fans at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
Tech freshman left-handed pitcher Jacob Patterson (1-0) pitched three innings in relief without allowing an earned run to pick up the victory during his career debut. Senior right-handeder Dominic Moreno pitched the final 1.2 innings allowing just one run with a strikeout to earn his fourth career save.
San Francisco starter Anthony Shew (0-1) took the loss allowing eight runs (7 ER) on seven hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
The Red Raiders fell behind 3-0 in the top of the third but quickly erased the deficit scoring six runs on four hits in the bottom half of the inning. Junior left fielder Tyler Neslony drove in the first three runs for Tech with a bases-clearing double with one out. Junior first baseman Eric Gutierrez followed with an RBI double and then scored on sophomore center fielder Hunter Hargrove's RBI double.
Sophomore right fielder Stephen Smith hit a solo homer in the fifth and junior catcher Tyler Floyd hit a solo shot - his first career home run - in the eighth to give Tech a 9-6 lead.
Senior second baseman Bryant Burleson went 2-for-5 with an RBI, Gutierrez finished 2-for-3 and Floyd went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Tech swept the Saturday doubleheader from the Dons by scores of 15-6 and 13-5.
Offensively freshman third baseman Michael Davis made his career debut going 2-for-5 with his first career hit coming as a two-run home run during Tech's five-run fourth inning.Sophomore designated hitter William Hairston also made his career debut going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBI.
Tech came out of the gates fast in the nightcap scoring seven runs in the first inning and never looked back.
In the first, Tech had five of its first six batters reach base via walk and then capitalized on back-to-back two-run singles by Hairston and Davis.
That was more than enough of a cushion for Tech starting pitcher Dylan Dusek (1-0) who pitched six innings allowing only two runs on five hits with five strikeouts without allowing a walk. San Francisco's starter, Sheldon Lee (0-1), didn't make it out of the first inning allowing seven runs on just two hits with five walks in 0.1 inning of work.
The Red Raiders were guided by nine players that had base hits, including junior second baseman Cory Raley who made his career debut going 3-for-5 with a double and triple. Davis, Hairston, center fielder Hunter Hargrove and junior left fielder Tyler Neslony notched multi-hit games.
Senior right-handed pitcher Corey Taylor - who also pitched two innings in the first game - closed down the game throwing the eighth and ninth innings without allowing an earned run with a strikeout.
On Sunday, The Red Raiders erased a 3-2 lead by the Dons scoring four runs in the fifth and holding onto their lead late as San Francisco also scored four runs in the ninth inning.
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Ty Damron (1-0) picked up the win pitching a career-high five innings with two strikeouts without allowing a walk with three runs and seven hits allowed.
Senior left-handed pitcher Cameron Smith notched the save pitching the final four innings out of the bullpen while allowing four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and a walk.
Junior first baseman Eric Gutierrez went 4-for-4 with three RBI, he reached base safely in 16-of-19 plate appearances on the weekend, while Stephen Smith (2-for-4, 2 RBI), shortstop Tim Proudfoot (2-for-4) and pinch hitter/designated hitter Quinn Carpenter (2-for-2) each added two hits.
The Red Raiders were successful at the plate over the weekend posting at least 10 hits in four straight games to open the season for the first time since 2009. Tech hit .392 (56-for-143) on the weekend with 46 runs, 16 doubles, one triple, four home runs, 26 walks and only 17 strikeouts.
Texas Tech will play its first midweek game of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 17 hosting Nevada (3-0) for a 2 p.m. first pitch at Rip Griffin Park. Nevada swept a three-game series on the road at Abilene Christian this weekend.
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