Tech drops opener to UCF, 7-3

Friday, May 9

Lubbock, Texas

8:35 p.m.

Texas Tech Athletics

17-29, 0

UCF

26-23, 0

UCF

Texas Tech

May 10, 2025 | Baseball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

The Red Raiders saw the Knights flip a 2-2 game into a 7-2 game in the final three innings

By: Andrew Stern

LUBBOCK, Texas – Despite multiple hits from Coleman Ryan and Kyeler Thompson, Texas Tech Baseball fell 7-3 Friday night to UCF in the opener of a three-game series at Dan Law Field at Rip Griffin Park.

After lightening delayed Friday's contest by over two hours and 30 minutes, Texas Tech (17-29, 11-14 Big 12) battled back to tie the game at two after falling behind 2-0 in the first, before allowing a pair of runs in the seventh and three in the ninth. The game delay marked the 10th time in the last 13 games (Friday night at Arizona State; Apr. 17) that Tech faced either a cancellation or a weather delay.

In the setback, Thompson went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, while Ryan also had two hits (2-for-3) with an RBI in the nine-hole. Ryan had the first two Tech hits of the game and drove in the Red Raiders first run of the night.

Tech's Logan Hughes also provided one of the seven Red Raider hits to extend his team-best on-base streak to 32-consecutive games.

After UCF (26-23, 7-18 Big 12) used a one-out double form Edian Espinal and a two-run home run from Andrew Williamson to take a 2-0 lead off Tech ace Mac Heuer, the Red Raider righty settled in over the next three innings plus, striking out seven batters.

Heuer in his 12th start of the season went four innings and allowed six hits and two runs. He walked two and struck out seven over his 92-pitch outing.

After being shut down for four innings by UCFs Camden Wicker, the Red Raiders finally managed to scratch across a run in the fifth using a two-out walk to Peyton Schulze, a hit-by-pitch and the RBI knock from Ryan to pull to within 2-1.

With catcher Davis Rivers on second and Ryan on first, Tech's Tracer Lopez turned on the 85th and final offering that Wicker threw, lacing a ball deep in the right-centerfield gap that UCFs DeAmez Ross was able to chase down two steps from the wall for the third and final out of the frame.

Back to within a run, Tech's Lukas Pirko returned for the sixth, and used a diving stop turned force out and a second ground ball to strand two runners on base and keep the game 2-1.

Armed with the momentum after the run and shutdown inning, Tech used a lead-off single from Thompson, his team-leading 26th stolen base and a Knights error to place runners on the corners with nobody out.

After the Knights recorded the first out of the inning, Tech's designated hitter, Antonelli Savattere, pushed a perfect safety squeeze down the first baseline.

With Thompson breaking from third, UCF threw home and initially got an out called at the plate, before Thompson was ultimately ruled safe on video review.

The run tied the game at two.

Tech's next batter, first baseman Robin Villeneuve singled to left to load the bases for Tech's hottest hitter, Schulze.

Looking to keep the game tied, UCF turned to its best reliever, lefty Dominic Castellano.

Castellano originally fell behind Schulze, 1-0 and 3-2, before coaxing a flyout to second. Despite the ball leaving the infield, the pop-up was too shallow to score Hughes from third.

With two outs and the bases still full, Tech turned to its bench, and pinch-hit catcher Dylan Maxcey, who also popped out ahead in the count (2-1), this time to the pitcher, Castellano.

The out kept the game tied at two-all.

In the seventh, Tech again ran out Pirko, who after walking Espinal on five pitches rebounded to strike out Williamson.

After a stolen base put Espinal on second, Pirko got what likely could have a been an inning ending double play had Espinal been on first. Instead, the grounder advanced the speedy infielder to third.

With the second baseman on third and two outs, Tech turned to senior Trendan Parish.

Parish got ahead in the count 1-2 on UCFs shortstop Antonio Jimenz before running the count full. On the first pay-off offering Jimenez saw from Parish, the infielder laced a double into the left-centerfield gap that scored Espinal from third and gave UCF a 3-2 lead.

One batter later, the Knights made it 4-2, when leftfielder Chase Krewson plated Jimenez on a single. The run, which was charged to Parish, snapped a 5.2 inning scoreless streak and a five-appearance scoreless streak.

In the seventh down 4-2, Tech nearly got a third single from Ryan, but the speedy infielder was called out on a bang-bang play that stood up on video review. The grounder was one of three-straight that Tech would hit into in a 1-2-3 seventh for Castellano and the Knights.

Freshman Will Jordan worked around a lead-off single in the eighth to keep the game 4-2 and send the contest to the bottom of the eighth where Tech had the heart of its lineup due up.

The Red Raiders immediately brought the tying run to the plate after a 105 MPH single into right-center by Hughes. After a strikeout put the first out on the board, the Red Raiders put the tying runs on base when Savattere was clipped by a pitch, but Castellano and UCF used back-to-back strikeouts to extinguish the threat.

In the top of the ninth, UCF used a single, a hit-by-pitch and a second hit to load the bases with nobody out.

In the end, all three Knights runners came around to score in the frame, giving UCF a 7-2 lead. The big blow was a tow-RBI single through the drawn in infield, by third baseman Braden Calise.

Looking to extend the game, Tech got a lead-off double from Maxcey and a walk from pinch-hitter Garet Boehm to place the first two runners of the bottom of the ninth on.

The mini rally forced a pitching change from UCF who turned to righty Kris Sosnowski.

Looking to preserve the victory, Sosnowski spiked the first pitch he threw to Lopez. The ball ricocheted off catcher Dylan King and up the third base line. Down five runs and with the ball taking King towards third, Maxcey decided not to break from second. However Boehm at first did break and ultimately was back-picked at first for the first out of the frame.

After a grounder advanced the catcher to third, Tech plated Maxcey on the RBI single from Thompson to cut the UCF lead to 7-3, before Sosnowski struck out Hughes to end the game.

UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders will look to even the weekend series at a one-game-all on Saturday afternoon when junior Tyler Boudreau will take the ball. First pitch from Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field is set for 2 p.m.