Texas Tech erupts late to beat Iowa
Texas Tech batters won't be the last baseball players happy to see Brody Brecht leave the mound.
Iowa's high-velocity starting pitcher reached 101 miles per hour Saturday on the stadium radar gun, and once he departed the Red Raiders opened up offensively.
No. 21 Tech scored six late runs on four extra-base hits and beat No. 27 Iowa 8-3, taking the first two games in the three-game series at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park.
"We were just trying to make him throw as many pitches as possible to get him off the mound," Tech leadoff batter Nolen Hester said, "to get to someone who, to be honest, was more hittable. And the guy coming in wasn't bad at all. I just think we hit the ball really well.
"As soon as we see that guy get off the mound, it's almost like a breath of fresh air, like, 'OK, we've got this guy out of the game. Now, let's go hit.' "
With Tech up 2-1 in a pitchers' duel, Tracer Lopez tripled home two runs with two outs in the seventh. Leading 4-3 in the eighth, the Red Raiders got solo home runs from Gavin Kash and Dylan Maxcey and a two-run double from Hester.
Brecht (1-1) had a 2.19 earned-run average and 22 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings before Saturday. Most all the fireworks came after he and Tech starter Mason Molina departed. That was a clash of styles, Molina a lefty who throws 88-92 mph and Brecht, a righty whose fastball was sitting 98-99 and touching triple digits.
"I've never seen anything that hard," Hester said. "That's as legit an arm as you're ever going to face in college — or professionally, honestly."
Molina allowed one unearned run on four hits. The sophomore lefthander struck out seven in five innings and didn't think he had great stuff. He had motivation, though.
"I'm weird in the way that I like to see who I'm facing on the other mound," Molina said, "so it was exciting to see, 'OK, I'm going up against a guy throwing a hundred.' I just went about my business, trying to match him every inning, just go out there and play my game and not try to pitch like him. It was fun to watch, though."
The Red Raiders hung the loss on Brecht, who went 5 2/3 innings and was charged with two runs on five hits. Gage Harrelson singled off Brecht in the sixth and was at third with two outs. After Zach Voelker relieved Brecht, Harrelson snapped a 1-1 tie with a delayed steal of home.
Harrelson broke for the plate as catcher Cade Moss made a low throw back to the mound.
"Yesterday, he goes, 'I can get it on the catcher,' " Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. "And today he did it 100 percent on his own, just playing baseball. He saw something. He saw he could get 90 feet. Pretty cool play."
Three innings before, Hudson White tried to steal home off Brecht. Plate umpire A.J. Wendel called White safe as he slid in on a tight play, but the call was overturned on video review.
"I think I had a kid try to do that on a Little League team when I was about 17," Tadlock said of Harrelson's steal of home. "It didn't go quite as good. Parents were kind of mad at me."
Kash's fifth home run of the season was a drive over the scoreboard in right-center field, estimated at 487 feet. Two batters later, Maxcey hit his first career homer, a shot to left-center estimated at 422 feet. That made the score 6-3.
After the next two batters walked, Hester pulled his double to the gap in right-center. He got it all, but the Red Raiders' leadoff batter has only three career homers in five college seasons.
"Hit it too low," Molina said jokingly.
"I hit it too low," Hester said. "That's as hard as I'm going to hit it. I just needed to hit it a little higher."
TEXAS TECH 8, IOWA 3
Iowa 000 100 020 — 3 8 0
Texas Tech 000 011 24x — 8 10 2
Brecht, Voelker (6) and Moss; Molina, Beckel (6), Parish (8) and Maxcey. W—Beckel (2-0). L—Brecht (1-1). Sv—Parish (1). 2B—Iowa, Huckstorf (1), Petersen (3), Anthony (6); Texas Tech, Carter (3), Hester (3). 3B—Texas Tech, T. Lopez (1). HR—Iowa, Huckstorf (2); Texas Tech, Kash (5), Maxcey (1). Records: Iowa 10-4, Texas Tech 14-2.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech erupts late to beat Iowa
