STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 9 Texas Tech defeated No. 3 Oklahoma State, 6-4, on Sunday afternoon at O'Brate Stadium. The win secured a series sweep, and Tech's third in a row in Stillwater as the Cowboys have not won a home game against the Red Raiders since April 6, 2014.
The weekend results put Texas Tech (35-16, 14-7) in a firm position to claim its fourth Big 12 regular season championship since 2016. With TCU finishing its Big 12 slate of games on Sunday with a 16-8 conference record, Tech controls its own destiny to win an outright title if they sweep Oklahoma, May 19-21. Winning two out of three claims a share of the title.
Chase Hampton was electric in his 10th start of the season on Sunday to pave the way for the Red Raiders' triumph and fourth-straight win overall. The sophomore tossed a career-high nine strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work. He allowed one earned run and three hits.
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While Friday and Saturday consisted of scoring surges of seven and five, respectively, in single innings to lift the Red Raiders, on Sunday Texas Tech chipped away scoring once in three different innings while the largest scoring output was three runs in the fifth.
Jace Jung gave Hampton a one-run lead before he stepped on the mound as he connected for a two-out solo home run over the right-field fence (watch). It was his 38th career home run, putting him in solo sixth place in program history. Tech improved to 24-10 this season when scoring first.
The freshman duo of Owen Washburn and Hudson White added a second run in the second with back-to-back doubles, White drove home the run (watch). Tech had an opportunity to widen its 2-0 lead in the top of third as Tech loaded the bases but came up empty as Oklahoma State retired Kurt Wilson and Washburn back-to-back to avoid any damage.
Oklahoma State got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third, knocking its first three base hits of the game against Hampton. The right-hander responded with back-to-back strikeouts with runners on second and third base to limit the damage (watch) and maintain the lead, 2-1.
The Texas Tech freshman duo struck again in the fifth as Washburn drove home two runs with a single up the middle with the bases loaded (watch). White followed the at-bat lacing a single to left field (watch) to score one more and put Tech in front 5-1.
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Jung widened the lead to 6-1 in the sixth, connecting for the third consecutive base hit to start the inning (watch). Easton Murrell and Cole Stilwell tallied the first two base hits.
The Cowboys charged back scoring one in the seventh and two more in the eighth.
Austin Becker closed the door for the win earning his first save of the season. While two runs scored in the eighth, he came up big with back-to-back strikeouts (watch) to end the eighth. He inherited the bases loaded with no outs. In the ninth, OSU loaded the bases once again, this at his own expense, but once again used an inning-ending strikeout to end the threat. The final strikeout (watch) was his fourth in his short appearance to give Tech the win.
Oklahoma State was swept at home for the second time this season, as Tech joins Gonzaga who took all three March 4-7.
