ARLINGTON, Texas – No. 2 seed Texas Tech (37-18) defeated No. 7 seed Kansas State (27-28), 5-3, in the third game of the 2022 Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship at Globe Life Field. The Red Raiders have won three consecutive opening-round games at the Championship.
Kurt Wilson scored on a pitching error during the bottom of the second inning to put Texas Tech on the board first. Parker Kelly singled to left field, bringing in Hudson White. After a Kansas State error on second, Kelly stole third and rounded the corner for home to give the Red Raiders an early 3-0 lead over the Wildcats.
After three innings with no runs from both teams, Dillon Carter tripled to left-center to break the streak, notching two RBIs and increasing the Red Raider lead to 5-0 to conclude the sixth.
Kansas State started its own scoring momentum when Cole Johnson singled to left center, bringing in Dylan Phillips to put the Wildcats on the board in the seventh. Kaelen Culpepper doubled to right field allowing two more Wildcats to cross the plate, cutting the Texas Tech lead to 5-3 at the end of the seventh.
Connor McCullough (L, 3-4) pitched six innings giving up five runs (three earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts for the Wildcats. He was relieved by Blake Corsentino who pitched two innings, gave up no hits or runs and threw five strikeouts.
Mason Molina (W, 2-5) pitched 6.2 innings giving up three hits, three runs and tossed 10 strikeouts for the Red Raiders. The freshman set career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts thrown before being relieved by Andrew Devine. Tech used three relief pitchers in the game including Austin Becker who pitched the ninth inning and recorded his second save of the season.
Big 12 Sports