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Texas Tech tops Kansas on Kash blast in 10th inning
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- Texas Tech tops Kansas on Kash blast in 10th inning
Losing a series to a sub-.500 team in the last week of college baseball's regular season could put Texas Tech in jeopardy of missing an NCAA regional. That hasn't happened since 2015.
Maybe it won't this season if Gavin Kash gets it going again.
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With the score tied in the bottom of the 10th inning Friday night, Texas Tech's slumping slugger homered to give the 28th-ranked Red Raiders an 8-7 victory over Kansas , evening the Big 12 series at one game apiece. The finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park.
"Big moment for him and our team and a big swing," Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. "You needed it, and glad he did it."
Tech's left-handed hitting first baseman has been one of the nation's top power hitters this season with 23 homers and 78 runs batted in. But a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning was his first RBI in five games. His game-winner over the scoreboard in right-center field snapped a seven-game streak without a homer. Those were his longest droughts of the season in both categories.
"He's hit some balls hard," Tadlock said. "Like last weekend at Morgantown ( West Virginia ), he didn't have a lot to show for balls he hit hard. People are shifting on him. He's hitting some balls hard on the ground.
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"It hasn't been as bad as the numbers look, I guess is what I'm saying."
Texas Tech's first baseman Gavin Kash (13) gestures to the dugout after hitting a walk-off home run against Kansas in the 10th inning, Friday, May 19, 2023, at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.
Tech (36-19, 11-12) is tied for sixth place in the Big 12 going into Saturday's regular-season finale against Kansas (24-29, 8-15). The best the Red Raiders can do is a tie for fifth.
And with the Big 12 tournament starting Wednesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Tech's pitching staff might have suffered a blow. Trendan Parish, the Red Raiders' No. 2 starter, left the game showing discomfort in the fourth inning.
After he struck out Mike Koszewski, Parish grimaced for several seconds and Tadlock and athletic trainer Bryan Simpson went to the mound. Simpson escorted Parish to the dugout and into the locker room as Parish held his pitching arm rigidly down at his side.
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The sophomore righthander ended last season on the shelf and underwent a surgical procedure on his right elbow. This season, he's made 16 appearances, including nine starts, and his 57 innings are second most on the team.
Tadlock said shortly after the game he didn't have any information to update Parish's status.
"We'll just see," he said. "See what it looks like tomorrow."
Parish went 3 2/3 innings, giving up four runs on four hits. He walked four and struck out seven, his second most in 36 career appearances.
Texas Tech pitcher Trendan Parish, left, leaves his start against Kansas in the fourth inning Friday night, favoring his right arm. Tech won 8-7 in 10 innings.
Dillon Carter and Austin Green also homered for Tech, both solos. Nolen Hester, Gage Harrelson and Green had three hits apiece for the Red Raiders with Hester and Green each driving in two runs.
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Kansas struck out 16 times and hit four home runs. Luke Leto and Collier Cranford homered back-to-back off Parish in a four-run fourth when the Jayhawks erased a 4-0 deficit. Michael Brooks connected in the fifth against Ethan Coombes, and Cole Elvis' two-run drive in the eighth tied the game 7-7.
Brooks' leadoff single in that inning and Elvis's opposite-field drive to right were the only hits allowed by Ryan Free in a four-inning appearance. The Tech lefthander struck out five and didn't issue a walk.
"Free probably had three pitches he didn't execute," Tadlock said. "One of them went out of the ballpark, and one of them was a single to right on an oh-2 count. I thought that was the best he's thrown the ball in a few weeks."
The game was decided on a late home run for the second night in a row. Elvis' tiebreaking, two-run blast in the ninth inning was the difference in the Jayhawks' 3-1 victory Thursday.
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Kash's home run came off Stone Hewlett (0-5), Kansas' fifth pitcher. It made a winner of Kyle Robinson (1-1), who pitched the 10th.
TEXAS TECH 8, KANSAS 7 (10 innings)
Kansas 000 410 020 0 — 7 8 1
Texas Tech 031 210 000 1 — 8 14 0
Cashero, Bradford (3), Dougan (5), Andrews (7), Hewlett (8) and English; Parish, Coombes (4), Free (6), Robinson (10) and Maxcey. W—Robinson (1-1). L—Hewlett (0-5). 2B—Texas Tech, Green (11), T. Lopez (6), Hester (16), Vooletich (9). HR—Kansas, Leto (7), Cranford (6), Brooks (8), Elvis (14); Texas Tech, Carter (6), Green (10), Kash (23). Records: Kansas 24-29, 8-15; Texas Tech 36-19, 11-12.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech tops Kansas on Kash blast in 10th inning
