Texas Tech baseball left Albuquerque with a split against the University of New Mexico baseball team earlier in the month. And with Wednesday's meeting between the two squads getting cancelled, Tuesday night wound up being the final scheduled meeting — carrying the additional bragging rights of winning the head-to-head season series.
No. 15 Texas Tech played host this time around, welcoming the Lobos into its home stadium at Rip Griffin Park by recording the first three outs of the game on just 10 pitches, despite UNM getting a base runner. Red Raider starting pitcher Mason Montgomery retired lead-off man Justin Watari to start the game before hitting Tyler Kelly to put him on. But induced a double-play ball to make it a 1-2-3 top first to get things going.
The Red Raiders appeared to enjoy the comforts of home offensively as well. Gabe Holt singled and stole second, then scored the game's first run after a base hit brought him home. UNM made a pitching change after Texas Tech added another run and were in danger of things getting out of hand following a walk that loaded the bases. But the Lobos were able to avert the crisis and get out of the inning trailing just 2-0.
Three runners left on base was just the start of an unwanted trend on the part of Texas Tech, as the Red Raiders pounded out 12 hits and drew seven walks — only to strand 15 of those base runners for the game.
Texas Tech left a man on base in every inning except for the eighth, including leaving the bases juiced in the first, second and fifth innings.
That led to a significant amount of potential runs being left out on the field instead of on the scoreboard on the Red Raider side of the ledger, but New Mexico obliged by blowing some chances too.
The Lobos plated three runs in the top of the second — drawing three walks in the first four at-bats. With one out and the Red Raiders looking to avoid a sacrifice, TTU appeared to make a conscious decision to let a catchable foul ball land — perhaps hoping instead for another double-play ball to get out of the jam.
But not recording an out on that play came with consequences as Lobo first baseman Derek Marshall Jr. belted out a base hit, which wound out being a 3-RBI one after a throwing error allowed all three base runners to reach home safely and put Marshall Jr. on second. UNM failed to advance him any further, but was still able to inch out to a 3-2 lead.
The Lobos added another run in the top of the fourth after a two-out single by Tanner Baker brought home Kelly. That hit not only increased the lead to 4-2, but seemed to just be the start of a possible big rally, putting runners on the corners. But it was UNM's turn to leave the bases loaded, wasting a two-out walk by striking out in the next plate appearance.
New Mexico's two-run advantage held up for a couple of innings, despite some aggressive Red Raider base running. A stolen base got Texas Tech's Dru Baker in scoring position and a subsequent walk may have made things look promising, but UNM closed the door in the third and fourth to protect the lead.
Texas Tech broke through in the bottom of the fifth though. The Lobo pitching staff had all kinds of problems in the home half of the frame and a hit by pitch, wild pitch and back-to-back walks quickly tied things up at 4-4, loading the bags again in the process. But Nico Garza made sure things stayed that way, coming on in relief and recording an out to keep it a tie game.
Unfortunately for New Mexico, the bats went silent thanks to some solid performances by the Texas Tech bullpen. The Lobos failed to get a hit the rest of the way and struck out nine times from the sixth inning on.
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It left the door open for Texas Tech, which reclaimed the lead with a two-run seventh inning.
And that was all the run support the Red Raider relievers needed.
Taylor Floyd went three innings strong, striking out six Lobos along the way to put himself in line for the win, then Clayton Beeter took the mound to record the save, striking out the side in the top of the ninth to earn the 6-4 victory.
The win lifted Texas Tech's season record to 26-13, while the Lobos fall to 18-22 on the year.
New Mexico will try to start its quest of trying to make it to the top-four of the Mountain West standings all the way from last place this weekend. The Lobos travel to California to face the Fresno State Bulldogs in a three-game set, beginning on Friday, Apr 26 at 7 p.m.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers basketball and baseball and contributes content for various other sports as well. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Robert_Maler