No. 17 Tech Bounces Back for 7-2 Saturday win over No. 24 Texas

LUBBOCK, Texas – In his first-career Big 12 start freshman Mac Heuer fired six strong inning while his batterymate Dylan Maxcey added three hits and four RBIs to will No. 17 Texas Tech to a bounce-back 7-2 victory Saturday afternoon over No. 24 Texas in front of another sold out crowd at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

Taking the ball for his second-career weekend start, Heuer was simply sensational on Saturday, firing six innings of two-run ball to earn his second-career victory. The freshman scattered just three hits and struck out eight over his 107 pitches of work.

At the plate, Texas Tech (11-3, 1-1 Big 12) got four hits from first baseman Gavin Kash and three hits from Maxcey. The big hit from Kash was a second inning double that flipped a 1-1 game into a 3-1 Tech lead.

Texas (8-6, 1-1 Big 12) struck first on Saturday on a solo home run down the left field line off the bat of Max Belyeu.

Needing a response, Tech used a two-out single from Maxcey to plate TJ Pompey who doubled earlier in the frame.

The base knock tied the game at one, and set the stage for Kash, who facing an 0-2 hole, ripped a ball down the third base line that plated Tracer Lopez from third and Maxcey from first.

Texas answered with its final run of the ball game in the third, when Porter Brown lifted a home run to left that cut the Tech lead to 3-2.

In the top of the fourth, Heuer dug deep, working around a two-out error and a single to extinguish the threat with his sixth punchout of the ball game.

With the momentum restored, Tech used a one-out single from Lopez to set the stage for another big swing from Maxcey. Looking to deliver the final blow, Maxcey ripped the first pitch he saw from Longhorn starter Cody Howard over the visitors bullpen for his second home run of the season.

The blast traveled 365 feet, gave the Red Raiders a 5-2 lead and chased Howard from the ballgame. The righty went 3.1 innings and allowed seven hits and five runs in just 57 pitches. Howard suffered his first loss of the season.

Looking for more, the Red Raiders loaded the bases with one out off of reliever Luke Harrison, but a third UT reliever, Max Grubbs won an eight-pitch battle with Owen Washburn and used a 105-MPH liner from Damian Bravo to escape the jam.

Armed with a three-run lead for the first time, Heuer went to work, using a pair of strikeouts sandwiched between a flyout to retire the side in order.

After Grubbs and the Longhorns stranded a runner on third with nobody out, Heuer needed just 10 pitches in a 1-2-3 sixth inning.

In the end, Heuer retired the final seven batters he faced in the game, pitching the career-high six innings and striking out eight. The six-inning outing is the longest by a Red Raider in 2024, while the eight strikeouts are tied for the most fired by a Tech pitcher this season.

With his strong outing today, Heuer has now pitched a 2.76 ERA and has recorded 13 strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched.

Looking to seal the victory, the Red Raiders turned to senior lefty Ryan Free who needed just seven pitches to fire a 1-2-3 seventh, allowing his squad to add two more key insurance runs in the seventh when Maxcey singled home Pompey and Stripling.

In the eighth, UT looked to have a little bit of rally cooking on a lead-off infield single and a hit batter, but Free recovered using a spectacular diving catch from Travis Sanders to fire yet another zero.

Sanders checked into the ball game as defensive replacement in the eighth.

After his two scoreless innings, Free has now allowed just one run in his 10.1 innings of work. The lefty has pitched to an ERA of 0.87 and held opponents to an .071 average with runners in scoring position.

In the ninth, Tech turned to Josh Sanders, who fired a scoreless ninth to record the Red Raiders eighth win in the last nine games.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders will look to secure the series victory over the Longhorns in Sunday’s crucial rubber-match. First pitch from Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field is set for 2 p.m.

–TECH–

Release Provided By Andrew Stern Texas Tech Athletics