Texas Tech finished their weekend at the UTSA Tournament tied for 2nd place with a 2-2 mark. Tech led off their season in poor fashion, getting 1-hit by Louisiana-Lafayette. The 4-0 defeat was not blamed on pitching, as Tech starter AJ Ramos struck out 10 batters in his 7 innings. Texas Tech had a better outing against Army on Sunday morning. Tech kicked off the game with a 7-run first inning, and cruised to a 16-2 victory, highlighted by Roger Kieschnick's 4 extra base hits. Kieschnick recorded 2 doubles, a triple and a home run, coming up just a single shy of the cycle.
Tech followed up the victory with a disappointing loss to tournament champions Oral Roberts. Tech held a 2-run advantage before giving up 3 2-out runs in the bottom of the 7th, dooming the Red Raiders to a 7-6 loss and a losing record. Not to go out on bottom, Tech answered back with a vengeance against the host team. With 10 runs in the first frame, Tech set the pace for the day, finishing with a 16-6 victory and a 2-2 record.
A 2-2 record is good for this team. They proved a lot of what critics panned them for before the season was empty cynicism. The brightest spot for the Red Raiders was their pitching staff. The starters were phenomenal, going a combined 2-1 with 25 strikeouts in 22 innings. Although the ERA for the starters was a 4.09, most of those runs were scored in the final innings against them. The relievers did a fair job, with Brian Cloud and Robert Kilcrease being the 2 that stood out the most.
On the offensive side, 3 players distinguished themselves from the pack. Roger Kieschnick hit .350 with 10 RBIs and 6 of his 7 hits going for extra bases. Jason Seefeld, a surprise starter after tearing his ACL in the fall, led the way with a .455 average and .625 OBP. Doug Thennis, Tech's leadoff man hit .353 with a .476 OBP. Another bright spot was Joey Kenworthy, not for his swinging, but rather his lack of swinging. Kenworthy led the team with 8 walks and 8 runs scored. As a team, Texas Tech was patient enough to draw 32 walks, which helped them to score their 38 runs on the weekend.
This weekend was good for Tech. They showcased pitching and hitting, and got that first weekend out of the way. They did struggle with the bullpen against Oral Roberts, but that is not something that should bother anyone too much, seeing as how only 2 pitchers of the 13 used (9 in relief) made multiple appearances, with 7 making their first appearances of their Tech career. Wednesday's game at New Mexico should be a good one for the Raider faithful if the team continues their strong hitting.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment