Texas Tech keeps Wichita State baseball sliding

The variables of baseball – the small details like angles, inches and miles per hour – probably affected the outcome of Texas Tech’s 4-1 win over Wichita State on Saturday afternoon.

Todd Butler’s acknowledgement of those factors wasn’t centered on Saturday’s game, though, but on how winning teams make the variables work for them.

Texas Tech scored on two wind-aided hits in the third inning, and WSU missed a comeback opportunity on a bunt placed too many inches to the right. Instead of shrugging off those plays as uncontrollable happenstance, Butler used them to illustrate a larger point.

“Little things that you’re short from being able to play with them or being able to tie the game or be within striking distance,” Butler said.

“It’s all teachable. Those are big moments in the game.”

No. 3 Texas Tech (21-4) has taken the first two games in the weekend series from WSU (11-12), which has lost 12 of 16 after a 7-0 start and endured hitting struggles throughout the last month.

The Shockers’ pitching has often been solid, and it was better than that on Saturday. Senior right-hander Zach Lewis struck out a career-high 10 batters while pitching seven innings, tied for his longest outing with WSU.

Lewis was his best at the end of his outing, when he struck out four in a row before giving way to WSU’s bullpen. He worked around potential trouble in the first and second innings before trouble appeared in third under strange circumstances.

John McMillon’s fly ball to center found a wind stream and carried just over the wall for a solo home run. Four batters later, following a two-out walk, a seemingly harmless fly ball by Texas Tech first baseman Hunter Hargrove drifted to the wall for an RBI triple.

Lewis allowed one more run, which scored following two fifth-inning wild pitches, so he wasn’t far from a scoreless outing that wouldn’t have put so much pressure on WSU’s laboring offense.

“My goal was just to go after them aggressively right out of the gate,” Lewis said. “Don’t let them have any breathing room, establish my presence and set the tone for the game for our team.”

Lewis has been WSU’s most consistent starter and may be in line for a turn as WSU’s No. 1 starter in next weekend’s series against Valparaiso. He pitched seven scoreless innings last Sunday against Cal Poly and his ERA has dropped from 6.75 to 4.15 over the last two outings.

“I felt confident before the game,” Lewis said. “The bullpen felt pretty good, warming up went really well, so I just kept the same mindset throughout the whole thing. I carried over last week’s start into this one.”

The Shockers tried to ignite their offense after leadoff hits in the first two innings with a stolen base and a sacrifice bunt, but neither of those runners moved past second base.

In the fifth, WSU got runners to second and third with no outs before Bryant Klusener’s grounder to pitcher Steven Gingery produced an out at home. The next batter, Jordan Boyer, tried a squeeze bunt that was fielded by Gingery for another out at home. Alext Jackson struck out to end the threat.

A similar situation in the seventh produced a sacrifice fly but no game-changing hits. The Shockers went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position and they had one extra-base hit, the eighth time in 16 games they’ve produced no more than one.

“One through nine, it’s trying to get that going,” Butler said. “We’re playing different guys, and it’s wide open across the field trying to figure out who can give us quality at-bats.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2017 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Texas Tech keeps Wichita State baseball sliding."