Tech Uses Complete Effort to Roll to 7-1 Win over TCU

FORT WORTH — TJ Pompey went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, while lefty Ryan Free, Jacob Rogers and Josh Sanders combined to allow just five hits and a run in Tech’s 7-1 win over TCU Friday night at Lupton Stadium.

Up 4-1 heading to the seventh, Texas Tech (26-9, 9-7 Big 12) three late insurance runs to close out its eighth straight win overall and fifth straight Big 12 Conference win.

Locked in pitchers-duel early, the Red Raiders flipped a 1-0 TCU (20-12, 5-11 Big 12) lead to a 3-1 advantage in the fourth, when a Drew Woodcox double plated Austin Green who walked.

The game remained tied for all of one batter, as Woodcox raced around to score on an Owen Washburn single.

With runners on first and second and two outs, the Red Raiders added their third run of the game on a single by Pompey.

Armed with the lead, Free went to work firing a zero in the fourth and the fifth. The pitcher needed just 55 pitches to earn his fourth overall win but his first in three Friday night starts.

Tech pulled ahead by three runs in the sixth, when TJ Pompey ripped a 395′ home run to left-center. The blast was the freshman’s eighth of his freshman campaign.

With Free through five, the Red Raiders turned to sophomore Jacob Rogers who used a caught stealing to erase a leadoff double in the TCU sixth.

Returning for the seventh, Rogers allowed a leadoff walk, but the righty used a punchout and a pair of flyouts to send the game to the eighth.

Armed with a 5-1 lead after Cade McGee scored on an RBI grounder from Pompey, the Red Raiders turned to Josh Sanders for the eighth.

Like Rogers, Sanders allowed a lead-off double, that snapped his streak of 14 straight batters retired (dating back to Stanford and Houston), but the righty needed just six pitches to retire the next three in order, stranding the runner at second.

In the top of the ninth, the Red Raiders mounted a two-out rally, when Kevin Bazzell was hit by a pitch and stole second. Back-to-back walks from Green and Woodcox loaded the bases for Washburn who singled home Bazzell. Another single, this time from McGee, gave Tech a 7-1 lead.

Three outs from win No. 26 on the season, Sanders retired the Frogs in order in ninth. The righty has now pitched his last eight-and-one-third innings scoreless and has retired 20 of the 21 batters he has faced.

UP NEXT:
Tech will look to seal its second straight Big 12 series on Saturday when junior Kyle Robinson takes the ball. Saturday’s game is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch live on ESPNU.

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Release Provided By Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics