GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Texas Tech’s Mason Molina took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, and the Red Raiders held off a late rally by UConn to open the Gainesville Regional with a 3-2 win Friday at Condron Ballpark.
Texas Tech improved to 7-1 in the first round of NCAA Regional play under head coach Tim Tadlock.
The Red Raiders wasted little time getting on the board. After a single by Gage Harrelson, Kevin Bazzell delivered with a double to score Harrelson to give the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
Texas Tech would add to the lead in the fifth. Zac Vooletich’s two-out single to center field brought home Harrelson and Bazzell to make it 3-0 Red Raiders.
Molina retired the first 12 batters he faced before giving up a single to leadoff hitter Dave Smith in the bottom of the sixth. Molina would hit the next batter but got out of the jam with a fly ball to second base to end the Huskies’ threat. He would exit after walking the first two batters of the seventh and finish his day with six innings pitched and ten strikeouts.
Brandon Beckel would come in with two on and no outs. After a wild pitch advanced the runners to second and third, Beckel would get a strikeout against his first batter but would not get out of the inning unscathed.
Ryan Daniels would drive in UConn’s first run with an RBI ground out to second to make it 3-1, and pinch hitter Maddix Delena singled passed a diving Gavin Kash to score Jake Studley to make it 3-2. Hudson White would throw out Drew Kron’s attempt to steal second base to end the Huskies’ rally.
In the eighth, White was unable to throw out Korey Morton at second on a steal attempt after he led off the inning with a single to left field. Morton would then advance to third on a long fly ball to right field. Beckel would get the next to Huskies to fly out to right field to end the inning.
Josh Sanders would come into finish the game off in the ninth to record his first save of the season.
The Red Raiders (40-21) await the winner of No. 2 Florida and Florida A&M, who play Friday at 4:30 p.m. Texas Tech faces the winner at 5 p.m. Saturday.
