Texas Tech has now won eight straight conference games following back-to-back sweeps of Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

 

Box Score (PDF) | Postgame Notes (PDF)

 

NORMAN, Okla. – After getting it done in the latter stages of the game Friday and Saturday, No. 10 Texas Tech baseball pounced on the Sooners early to finish off a series sweep of Oklahoma with a 8-4 victory Sunday at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

The Red Raiders (33-14, 14-7) jumped out to a 5-0 lead through four innings, and sophomore right-hander Bryce Bonnin (4-1) tossed six shutout innings of two-hit ball before turning it over to the bullpen.

While Saturday’s win clinched Tech’s first series win in Norman since 1999, Sunday’s victory gave Tech its third sweep of the Sooners under head coach Tim Tadlock. The Red Raiders have now posted eight straight conference wins back-to-back sweeps of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to move 0.5 games out of first in the league standings.

Junior infielder Josh Jung continued his tear, going 4-for-5 with three doubles and two runs driven in. Sophomores Gabe Holt and Cody Masters added three hits apiece as Tech compiled 15 hits in the contest to Oklahoma’s six and matched its season high with seven doubles.

Jung capped off a big weekend, hitting .615 with six of his eight hits going for extra bases. For the week, he hit .550 with five doubles, two dingers, five walks and six RBI. His numbers, however, were topped by senior Cameron Warren, who hit .556 for the week with three home runs, three doubles, seven walks and seven RBI.

The Red Raiders outscored the Sooners 25-13 in the series and have now doubled up teams in the run column 93-45 over its last 10 games. The sweep moves Tadlock to 14-10 all-time against OU with wins in nine of the last 13 games.

Holt jumpstarted the Red Raiders from the first pitch, tagging a double to the gap in left center. He crossed home two batters later on a double from Jung to make it 1-0 after one. Tech made it 2-0 in the third as junior Brian Klein led off with a double and came around on an opposite field single from Masters.

Holt made a stellar play in the home half of the third to save a pair of runs. Oklahoma (30-18, 8-10) drew a pair of two-out walks to setup Brady Lindsly, who had both Sooner home runs on the weekend. Lindsley sent a pitch to deep right center that Holt tracked down and extended at the warning track to pull in to keep OU from tying the game and continuing the inning.

Klein doubled for the second consecutive inning in the fourth, knocking in two runs to make it a 4-0 game. He and Jung would then switch places as Jung found a hole in right for his second double in three at bats.

Both sides scored a run in the seventh and two in the eighth to make it 8-3 going to the ninth, where redshirt freshman Clayton Beeter received his first action of the weekend to close it out.

The Red Raiders will return home to host a midweek doubleheader against FIU (20-27, 9-15 C-USA) on Tuesday at Rip Griffin Park before turning their attention to finals. Following the finals break, Tech will close out the regular season with a three-game series against TCU (26-20, 8-10) May 16-18 in Lubbock.

–TECH–

Ty Parker

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