Texas Tech Athletics
5-11, 2-0
Houston
11-6, 0-2
Early Offense, Cebert late, powers Tech to series win at UH
March 16, 2025 | Baseball
The Red Raiders used 11 runs over the first three innings and nearly six stellar innings from Jack Cebert to move to 2-0 in Big 12 play
HOUSTON – A night after recording 10 hits (all singles), Texas Tech Baseball used 10 extra-base hits (five doubles, a triple and four home runs) and nearly six shutout innings and eight punchouts from reliever Jack Cebert to close out a 13-8 win over the University of Houston on Saturday night at Schroeder Park.
A night after throwing a one-hitter in Friday's 4-1 win, Texas Tech (5-11, 2-0 Big 12) showed its might offensively early, getting a pair of early home runs from Robin Villeneuve and Logan Hughes to hang a pair of runs in the first, four runs in the second and five in the third to race out to an 11-2 lead.
In another monster night, Villeneuve hit a pair of homers in his 3-for-5 performance with three runs scored and five RBIs, while a night after going 2-for-4 with an RBI single, Hughes went 3-for-4 and also homered twice. The outfielder finished a double shy of the cycle and reached base four times and scored twice.
After homering in the first, Villeneuve doubled in the second to drive in his third and fourth runs of the night. The Canadian later homered in the eighth, a 403-foot shot to straight center.
The tone was set with the first long ball of the night by the former JUCO home run champ, a first inning two-run shot that came after on the 12th pitch he saw from Houston's (11-6, 0-2 Big 12) starter, Graysen Drezek.
Villeneuve's multiple home run game was his first as a Red Raider and marks the fourth time the infielder has homered in his last six games.
Not to be lost in the early explosion was a pair of doubles from shortstop TJ Pompey who scored twice, three hits and three runs from outfielder Damian Bravo and a two-RBI double from second baseman Tracer Lopez.Â
After Tech's starter Tyler Boudreau bounced back from a two-run bottom of the first with a pair of zeros in the second and third innings, the Canadian ran into some trouble in the fourth. Following six shutout innings 10 day ago against UC San Diego, Boudreau went just 3.1 innings in his second start, allowing seven hits and seven runs.
A lead-off double in the home half of the fourth, jumpstarted a rally for the Cougars, who used a pinch-hit two run home run from Malachi Lott to pull to within 11-8.
Looking to settle the game down with the bases clear and out in the fourth, Tech turned to Cebert, who promptly recorded the innings final two outs on a pair of groundouts by the heart of the UH lineup.
The sequence proved to a bit of foreshadowing for the remainder of the night for Cebert, as the righty allowed just two infield singles in his 5.2 innings of work. The Tampa native earned his first career win as a Red Raider and set a season-high in strikeouts with eight. The Floridian has now allowed just two runs in his 10.2 innings of relief.Â
With Cebert dealing and the game settled down, Villeneuve again won another 3-2 battle in the sixth when he launched a solo home run over the center field wall for his second and final home run of the night.
Armed with a four-run lead again, Cebert made the run stand up, working around a two out infield single to hang a zero.
After a 1-2-3 inning by UH in the top of the seventh, Cebert matched the Cougars 1-2-3 frame in the bottom half, sandwiching a ground out in between a pair of punchouts to send the game to the eighth.
Looking to keep the momentum with his side, Cebert struck out the side after a lead-off infield field single to send the game to ninth.
Leading off the ninth, Hughes homered in nearly the same spot as he did in the third, when his 103 MPH, 414-foot bomb soared over the right field wall and hit off the trees beyond the wall.
Just three outs from sealing the Red Raiders second-straight victory and their first series win of 2025, Cebert did just that in the bottom of the ninth, using three ground balls to set the Cougars 1-2-3 hitters down in order in the ninth.
With the victory, the Red Raiders move to 2-0 in Big 12 play for the first time since 2022 when Tech walked-off Texas on back-to-back nights to open conference play.
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders behind junior Zane Petty will look for the series sweep on Sunday afternoon over the Cougars. First pitch from UHs Schroeder Park is set for 1 p.m.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Cebert, Jack (1-2)
L: Drezek, Graysen (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Villeneuve, Robin 1 ; Pompey, TJ 2 ; Boehm, Garet 1 ; Lopez, Tracer 1
3B: Hughes, Logan 1
HR: Villeneuve, Robin 2 ; Hughes, Logan 2
RBI: Bravo, Damian 1 ; Villeneuve, Robin 5 ; Hughes, Logan 3 ; Maxcey, Dylan 1 ; Boehm, Garet 1 ; Lopez, Tracer 2
SH: Thompson, Kyeler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Thompson, Kyeler 1 ; Bravo, Damian 3 ; Villeneuve, Robin 3 ; Hughes, Logan 2 ; Pompey, TJ 2 ; Boehm, Garet 1 ; Lopez, Tracer 1
SB: Bravo, Damian 1 ; Maxcey, Dylan 1
Batting:
2B: Sabathia, Carsten 1 ; Perez, Xavier 1 ; DeJesus, Coby 1
HR: Lott, Malachi 1
RBI: Broussard, Tre 2 ; Lott, Malachi 2 ; Sabathia, Carsten 1 ; Perez, Xavier 1 ; Tatom, Jake 1 ; DeJesus, Coby 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Broussard, Tre 1 ; Jimenez, Kenneth 1 ; Lott, Malachi 1 ; McGinnis, Connor 1 ; Perez, Xavier 1 ; Climie, Cade 1 ; Tatom, Jake 1 ; DeJesus, Coby 1
