Tim Tadlock ticked at curfew for Texas Tech baseball game
The Texas Tech baseball team has stumbled out of the gate, and not even facing a similarly struggling opponent was enough to snap the Red Raiders out of it.
Colton Bower, Malakhi Knight and A.J. Guerrero hit home runs, and Washington beat the Red Raiders' 12-8 Sunday in a curfew-shortened final game at the Las Vegas College Baseball Classic. The game ended after Tech's turn at-bat in the top of the eighth inning to enable the Huskies to make their Sunday night flight home.
Washington finished 19-31-1 last season and is 4-8 this year. Tech is 2-7 for the first time since 1974. Both teams went 1-2 in the four-team event with Texas and Illinois at Las Vegas Ballpark. Tech's win was a come-from-behind 10-6 conquest of Illinois on Friday in which Damian Bravo's game-tying homer triggered a six-run ninth inning.
"Give credit to Washington, give credit to Texas for outplaying us on the days we played them," Tech coach Tim Tadlock said, "and be thankful for Damian Bravo walking up there in the ninth on Friday. Obviously, that little rally did put together something for us."
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Here are key developments from the weekend.
Sunday's game started at 3:21 p.m. Las Vegas time with a predetermined decision that no inning would start after 6:30 p.m. so that the Huskies could make their return flight at 9:30 p.m. Tech turned an inning-ending double play in the bottom of the seventh just in time to earn another chance in the eighth.
Tadlock wasn't happy about the setup.
"You always want to have a four-hour window to play a baseball game," he said, "especially when the wind's blowing out 30 (mph) and you're in Vegas. Or even a Sunday baseball game at the tail-end of the weekend when pitching staffs maybe are a little thin. And so we went back and forth on 6:30. We wanted a four-hour window, and I think we got 3 hours and 15 minutes maybe, something like that."
Tech-Washington was the second game of the day, after Texas beat Illinois 15-6 in a 3-hour, 24-minute game that started at 11 a.m. local time.
Twice more in the post-game media session, Tadlock said the two teams should "be playing the ninth inning right now."
Starting with the previous Sunday's game against UC Irvine, Tech outfielder Damian Bravo has four consecutive multi-hit games. He's 10 for 19 in that stretch with two home runs and six batted in.
Bravo and first baseman Robin Villeneuve made the all-tournament team. Villaneuve went 6 for 12 in Vegas with three RBI. His two-run single in the sixth Sunday brought Tech within 11-7.
Junior lefthander Zach Crotchfelt made scoreless appearances against Illinois and Washington that covered 4 1/3 innings. The transfer from Auburn and has a 1.54 ERA in four appearances.
Tadlock said Crotchfelt "showed a lot of toughness."
Zane Petty made his first start and was tagged for five earned runs. The junior righthander went 2 1/3 innings, extending Tech's season-long streak of no starter making it past four innings.
Trevor Kole's two-run triple in the third came on a ball right fielder Damian Bravo lost in the sun.
Petty (0-1) gave up solo homers in the first and second innings.
"I thought it was competitive," Tadlock said. "I think he's going to be just fine."
Tech went into Sunday at the bottom of the Big 12 in team fielding and team ERA. The Red Raiders' 12 errors have led to 15 unearned runs. The team ERA is 6.99 and the ERA of starting pitchers is 12.38.
"We're going into week four, right?" Tadlock said. "You obviously want to put together who your starters are for conference play in two weeks, but we also knew with such a new staff and really with one guy that started on a weekend last year coming back in Mac (Heuer) that you're going to have maybe a little bit of this.
"And so we're going to keep believing in them and keep believing that guys are going to start throwing the ball good. There's a little give-and-take there, too. We've had some plays that you need to make. You need to get outs when outs are presented to you. So would like to do both. Would like to pitch better. Would like to get outs when they're there."
Texas Tech has five games this week, starting with the Red Raiders' first midweek games of the season. They host UC San Diego (7-4) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Former Tech pitcher and Tech graduate Eric Newman is in his 14th season as the Tritons' coach with a 428-265 record.
Tech then plays a three-game series Friday through Sunday at Grand Canyon.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Tim Tadlock ticked at curfew for Texas Tech baseball game
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