Tech downs No. 16 Arizona 9-3 to take series

Sunday, April 27

Lubbock, Texas

12:30 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

15-24, 0

No. 16 Arizona

30-13, 0

Arizona

Texas Tech

Tech downs No. 16 Arizona 9-3 to take series

April 27, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

On his birthday Logan Hughes finished a triple shy of the cycle while Jack Cebert pitched nearly four one-run innings to earn his fifth win

By: Andrew Stern

LUBBOCK, Texas – On his 20th-Birthday, Logan Hughes went 3-for-5 with a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs while Jack Cebert tossed nearly four stellar innings in Tech's 9-3 series-clinching victory over No. 16 Arizona Sunday afternoon at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

In what turned out to be Texas Tech's (15-24, 10-11) first ranked series win since defeating No. 22 West Virginia last April (Apr. 19-21), the Red Raiders held an Arizona (30-13, 13-8 Big 12) offense averaging almost eight runs per game to just eight total runs and seven earned runs in the three-game series.

After Zane Petty stranded a two-out triple on his first strike out of the game, the Red Raiders found more two-out magic when a 108 MPH double from Hughes and a 103 MPH single from Bravo gave Tech a 1-0 lead. The two-out RBI was the ninth recorded by a Red Raider on the weekend.

The game remained 1-0 Tech until the bottom of the fourth when a no-out full-count double from Bravo plated Hughes all the way from third. The run was made possible by Hughes being in motion on the pitch.

After an error by Arizona on the double placed Bravo on third, the outfielder scored just one pitch later when Antonelli Savattere plated him on a single up the middle. The RBI knock gave Tech a 3-0 lead after four.

In the fifth, Petty retired the lead-off man before a 1-2 single and a first pitch home run by Arizona's Andrew Walton cut the Tech lead to 3-2.

A five-pitch on the next batter proved to be the end of the line for Petty who departed after 4.1 innings of work. The righty allowed five hits and two runs in his 75-pitch outing, walking two and striking out four.

With the tying run on first base, Arizona's Maddox Mihalakis attempted to steal second, but catcher Davis Rivers threw the would-be base stealer out at second.

The caught stealing proved to be huge as one-batter later Arizona's Mason White singled up the middle. Instead of tying the game at three, the single placed a runner on first with two outs.

One pitch later, Cebert recorded the third and final out of the frame on a fielders choice.

Looking to answer the Wildcats two runs in the fifth, Tech immediately loaded the bases with nobody out on a lead-off double by third baseman Peyton Schulze, a walk and an infield single from Tracer Lopez.

The single by Lopez proved to be the end of the line for Smith Bailey who went 4.0+ innings and allowed eight hits and six runs.

After falling behind 1-2 in the count, Thompson battled all the way back to run the count full at 3-2. On the seventh pitch he saw from Hunter Alberini, Thompson ripped one down the right field line for a sac-fly that gave Tech a 4-2 lead.

With runners on the corners and one out, Hughes delivered the big blow for the Red Raiders, an opposite field three-run home run that traveled 371 feet into the Red Raider bullpen and gave the Red Raiders a 7-2 lead.

The game remained 7-2 until the eighth, when Arizona used a two-out double from Gunner Geile to pull to within 7-3. The double was the final pitch that Cebert would throw on the afternoon as the right-hander pitched 3.1 innings and allowed just one run on five hits. He struck out three and did not walk a batter.

In a 7-3 game, Tech turned to Lukas Pirko who needed just three pitches to strand Geile at second base and keep his Red Raiders up by four.

In the bottom of the eighth Tech used back-to-back singles from Schulze and Coleman Ryan and a two-run double from Lopez to take a 9-3 lead.

Comfortably in control, Pirko slammed the door shut, needing just nine pitches to retire the side in order.

In yet another strong effort, Schulze went 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Bravo and Hughes each had three hits and drove in multiple runs. Bravo doubled, drove in two and scored a run, while Hughes finished a triple shy of the cycle on his 20th Birthday.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders close a five-game homestand on Tuesday and Wednesday night when UTRGV comes to town for a two-game series. First pitch from Rip Griffin Park is set for 6:00 p.m. on both nights.