Shorthanded Tech baseball defeats New Mexico 6-3

Powered by a pair of multi-run innings, Texas Tech baseball defeated New Mexico, 6-3, Tuesday afternoon at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park. The win improved the Red Raiders to 12-2 on the season and 11-0 at home.

Coming off a 16-inning marathon against No. 15 Texas A&M Sunday night, the Red Raiders were shorthanded against the Lobos. Head coach Tim Tadlock said relievers Brandon Beckel, Josh Sanders and Kyle Robinson were unavailable Tuesday, as well as junior second baseman Austin Green, who "tweaked something" against the Aggies.

"Just really proud of their effort today under the circumstances," Tadlock said of his team. "You know a bunch of them slept a bunch Monday, some of them went to class, but the schedule definitely wasn't normal ... two o'clock game was pretty fast."

Freshman left-handed pitcher Zach Erdman got the start against New Mexico, though no Red Raider threw more than three innings. Erdman surrendered one earned run in his two innings of work — an RBI double off the bat of Lobos left fielder Deylan Pigford in the top of the third inning — before leaving the mound the following at-bat with Tech leading 3-2.

Junior right-handed pitcher Jase Lopez relieved Erdman, followed by fellow right-handers Trendan Parish and Andrew Devine as Tech's bullpen combined for 6.2 innings of one-run ball.

"Thought Erdman was fine for his first college start, he almost got us through the lineuo two times," Tadlock said. "Thought Jase was good, Trendan was good and Andrew, it was good to see him get back out there and do his thing."

Lopez earned his first win of the season after striking out two in 2.1 innings pitched.

"I think the guys behind me did awesome," Lopez said. "You know, it could've definitely gone south after that, but they stuck in there and threw really well."

Junior center fielder Dillon Carter and redshirt freshman third baseman Kevin Bazzell paved the way for Tech's win with two-run doubles in the second and fourth innings, respectively. Carter's two-RBI knock in the bottom of the second gave the Red Raiders their first lead of the game, which they would maintain for the rest of the afternoon.

Carter extended his hit streak to three games with the double. The Argyle native is 5-13 during the stretch, and his batting average sits at .419, good enough for second on the team.

"I think I'm seeing (the ball) pretty well," Carter said. "Hopefully as the year goes on it continues to improve instead of decline ... I think a bunch of the stuff that I worked on this offseason is starting to come to fruition and it's cool to see, but I just have to keep improving throughout the year."

Sophomore second baseman Hudson White followed Carter's double with a bases-loaded walk later in the frame to give the Red Raiders a 3-1 lead after two innings.

The Lobos got one run back in the third in ing, but Tech responded for three more runs in the fourth. Bazzell kicked off the burst with a two-run double into the gap in right-center, and senior designated hitter Ty Coleman followed with a two-out RBI single that didn't leave the infield.

The RBI was Coleman's sixth of the year and first since Feb. 20. Coleman ranked second on the team with 59 RBIs in 2022.

New Mexico designated hitter Lenny Junior Ashby made it a 6-3 ballgame with a solo home run off Parish in the top of the seventh inning, but Parish and Devine pitched a scorless eight and ninth inning to shut the door.

The Red Raiders continue their nine-game home stretch Friday with the first of a three-game set against Iowa.