Texas Tech University Athletics
Saturday, February 21
Lubbock, TX
Noon
Texas Tech Athletics
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UAlbany
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UAlbany
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Pirko’s CG, Villeneuve’s heroics, power Tech to double dip sweep
February 21, 2026 | Baseball
The righty took a shutout into the seventh to propel Tech to a 15-1 Game One win before Villeneuve provided the heroics in the night cap to sweep a Saturday double header from UAlbany
LUBBOCK, Texas – Junior Lukas Pirko threw a seven-inning rule-rule complete game to propel Tech to a 15-1 win Game One win over UAlbany, while a towering Robin Villeneuve two-run walk-off homer helped the Red Raiders secure an 8-6 come-from-behind victory in the night cap Saturday afternoon at Rip Griffin Park at Dan Law Field.
Taking a no-hitter in the fifth and a shutout deep into the seventh, Pirko tossed the best outing of his Texas Tech (4-3) career, as the righty scattered just five hits and allowed one run in the run-rule win. The complete game was the first by a Red Raider starter since the 2022 season when Brandon Birdsell tossed an eight-inning run-rule complete game.
In the night cap, once down 6-2 going to the home half of the seventh, Texas Tech (4-3) again erased a three-plus lead deficit for the fourth time this week, using three separate two-run homers to seal the double dip sweep. The first blast, a line drive shot off the bat of Logan Hughes, pulled Tech to within 6-4, before freshman Jesse Rusinek tied it at six-all just two batters later.
The Red Raiders ultimately walked the contest off in the bottom of the ninth when the Villeneuve blast cleared the wall in left-center and went over the glove of Albany (0-3) centerfielder Luke Fillipi who nearly robed it.
With the double header sweep, the Red Raiders pull over the .500 for the first time this season and have now won four-straight games for the first time since the 2024 season (Apr. 5-10) when Tech won eight-straight from Mar. 30-Apr. 12.
GAME ONE:
After a 1-2-3 first inning from Pirko to open the game, the Red Raiders got three-straight hits from Kyeler Thompson, Tracer Lopez and third baseman Connor Shouse to take a 1-0 lead.
The final hit from Shouse, a 100 MPH seed that clipped the pitchers mound before bounding into center, scored Thompson from third.
The Red Raiders quickly made it 2-0 on a bases loaded double play ball.
After Pirko forced the first double play ball of the season by a Red Raider pitcher to strand a one-out walk, the Red Raiders used five-straight two out hits to hang four more runs on the board.
The first hit, a triple into the right-center field gap by Thompson, was followed by an RBI double by Lopez. After Shouse drove in his second run of the game on a seeing-eye single, the
Red Raiders got back-to-back doubles from Hughes and Freshman Linkin Garcia to cap the four-run frame.
Following another strong 1-2-3 inning from Pirko in the top of the third, the Red Raiders put the game away for good in the bottom of the third, using RBI singles from Villeneuve and Lopez to take an 8-0 lead.
The game quickly became 11-0 in favor of the Red Raiders when a 392-foot blast from Hughes plated Lopez and Shouse from first base.
A two-RBI double from catcher Matt Quintanar and an RBI double from DH Davis Rivers put three more runs on the board for the Red Raiders and gave Tech a 14-0 lead after three.
Staked with a two-touchdown lead, Pirko needed just eight pitches to set the side down in order in the fourth, allowing the Tech offense to scratch across its 15th run of the game on another RBI knock from Hughes.
In game one, the slugger went a perfect 3-for-3 with five RBIs, a walk and two runs scored.
Taking a no-hitter into the fifth, Pirko finally allowed his first hit of the ballgame with one out in the frame, when UAlbany DH Kyle Stephens tripled off the top of the wall in center.
Pirko eventually stranded the Great Danes player on third, using a groundout back to the mound and a grounder to SS to escape the frame unscathed.
Despite the no-hitter being broken up, the shutout remained intact for Pirko until the top of the seventh with two outs, when a Patrick DeSarno single to center scored the lone run of the game for UAlbany.
Not fazed, Pirko immediately bounced back to strike out the next batter he faced and close out the Red Raiders first complete game in nearly four years. Pirko whiffed seven on the afternoon and needed just 90 pitches to become the first Red Raider starter of the season to pitch past the fifth inning. The former Freshman All-American landed 59 of his 90 offerings for strikes.
Pirko is also the first Tech pitcher since Zane Petty to take a no-hitter into the fifth (vs. BYU; May 17, 2025) and the first since Petty to toss seven full innings in a game.
Petty tossed eight frames in the Red Raiders 12-8 win at Arizona State last Apr. 19.
GAME TWO:
After the teams traded zeros in the first and second innings, Albany struck first against Texas Tech starter Donovan Becerra in the third when centerfielder Luke Filippi launched a three-run homer to center.
The blast gave Albany a 3-0 lead.
Looking to hold the game at 3-0, the Red Raiders turned to reliever Jonny Lowe to start the fourth, as the senior continued his strong work to begin the 2026 season, tossing a 1-2-3 inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Red Raiders cut the UAlbany lead to 3-1 when Garcia doubled, took third on a sac-bunt and came around to score on a two-out balk.
The Red Raiders used a pair of walks sandwiched between a single from Villeneuve to load the bases with two outs, but Great Danes starter Christian Mello used the fifth strikeout of his afternoon to strand the bases loaded.
After Lowe stranded a pair of baserunners in scoring position with two outs on a 2-2 strikeout in the fifth, the Red Raiders got a lead-off home run from Shouse to pull to within 3-2.
The blast left the bat at 112 MPH and went 361 feet, marking the second-straight day that Shouse has homered.
The game remained 3-2 UAlbany until the top of the seventh when the Great Danes used a sac-fly and two-out error to score three runs and take a 6-2 lead. The advantage was Albany's largest lead of the weekend.
Looking to respond, the Red Raiders did just that when a one-out hit-by-pitch and a 398-foot blast by Hughes brought Tech to within 6-4.
After a four-pitch free pass to Garcia, the Red Raiders immediately tied the ballgame one batter later when Rusinek launched a 409-foot home run off the scoreboard in right-center.
Returning for the eighth after stranding two runners on base on a strikeout looking, reliever Bryce Suiter tossed a scoreless eighth and scoreless ninth. In his first home appearance as a Red Raider, Suiter tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief striking out two. He earned his first career collegiate win.
The strong outing from Suiter set the stage in the bottom of the ninth for Villeneuve to be the hero.
Strolling to the plate after Rivers worked a seven-pitch walk with two outs, the Canadian first baseman turned on the first offering he saw from Albany's Alex Enea depositing the ball over the wall in left-center for a two-run walk-off blast.
The homer was the first walk-off blast by a Red Raider since Damian Bravo walked off UCF last May 10th.
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders will look to close out the four game sweep of UAlbany tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m., when sophomore Connor Mohan takes the ball for his second Sunday start.
Taking a no-hitter in the fifth and a shutout deep into the seventh, Pirko tossed the best outing of his Texas Tech (4-3) career, as the righty scattered just five hits and allowed one run in the run-rule win. The complete game was the first by a Red Raider starter since the 2022 season when Brandon Birdsell tossed an eight-inning run-rule complete game.
In the night cap, once down 6-2 going to the home half of the seventh, Texas Tech (4-3) again erased a three-plus lead deficit for the fourth time this week, using three separate two-run homers to seal the double dip sweep. The first blast, a line drive shot off the bat of Logan Hughes, pulled Tech to within 6-4, before freshman Jesse Rusinek tied it at six-all just two batters later.
The Red Raiders ultimately walked the contest off in the bottom of the ninth when the Villeneuve blast cleared the wall in left-center and went over the glove of Albany (0-3) centerfielder Luke Fillipi who nearly robed it.
With the double header sweep, the Red Raiders pull over the .500 for the first time this season and have now won four-straight games for the first time since the 2024 season (Apr. 5-10) when Tech won eight-straight from Mar. 30-Apr. 12.
GAME ONE:
After a 1-2-3 first inning from Pirko to open the game, the Red Raiders got three-straight hits from Kyeler Thompson, Tracer Lopez and third baseman Connor Shouse to take a 1-0 lead.
The final hit from Shouse, a 100 MPH seed that clipped the pitchers mound before bounding into center, scored Thompson from third.
The Red Raiders quickly made it 2-0 on a bases loaded double play ball.
After Pirko forced the first double play ball of the season by a Red Raider pitcher to strand a one-out walk, the Red Raiders used five-straight two out hits to hang four more runs on the board.
The first hit, a triple into the right-center field gap by Thompson, was followed by an RBI double by Lopez. After Shouse drove in his second run of the game on a seeing-eye single, the
Red Raiders got back-to-back doubles from Hughes and Freshman Linkin Garcia to cap the four-run frame.
Following another strong 1-2-3 inning from Pirko in the top of the third, the Red Raiders put the game away for good in the bottom of the third, using RBI singles from Villeneuve and Lopez to take an 8-0 lead.
The game quickly became 11-0 in favor of the Red Raiders when a 392-foot blast from Hughes plated Lopez and Shouse from first base.
A two-RBI double from catcher Matt Quintanar and an RBI double from DH Davis Rivers put three more runs on the board for the Red Raiders and gave Tech a 14-0 lead after three.
Staked with a two-touchdown lead, Pirko needed just eight pitches to set the side down in order in the fourth, allowing the Tech offense to scratch across its 15th run of the game on another RBI knock from Hughes.
In game one, the slugger went a perfect 3-for-3 with five RBIs, a walk and two runs scored.
Taking a no-hitter into the fifth, Pirko finally allowed his first hit of the ballgame with one out in the frame, when UAlbany DH Kyle Stephens tripled off the top of the wall in center.
Pirko eventually stranded the Great Danes player on third, using a groundout back to the mound and a grounder to SS to escape the frame unscathed.
Despite the no-hitter being broken up, the shutout remained intact for Pirko until the top of the seventh with two outs, when a Patrick DeSarno single to center scored the lone run of the game for UAlbany.
Not fazed, Pirko immediately bounced back to strike out the next batter he faced and close out the Red Raiders first complete game in nearly four years. Pirko whiffed seven on the afternoon and needed just 90 pitches to become the first Red Raider starter of the season to pitch past the fifth inning. The former Freshman All-American landed 59 of his 90 offerings for strikes.
Pirko is also the first Tech pitcher since Zane Petty to take a no-hitter into the fifth (vs. BYU; May 17, 2025) and the first since Petty to toss seven full innings in a game.
Petty tossed eight frames in the Red Raiders 12-8 win at Arizona State last Apr. 19.
GAME TWO:
After the teams traded zeros in the first and second innings, Albany struck first against Texas Tech starter Donovan Becerra in the third when centerfielder Luke Filippi launched a three-run homer to center.
The blast gave Albany a 3-0 lead.
Looking to hold the game at 3-0, the Red Raiders turned to reliever Jonny Lowe to start the fourth, as the senior continued his strong work to begin the 2026 season, tossing a 1-2-3 inning.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Red Raiders cut the UAlbany lead to 3-1 when Garcia doubled, took third on a sac-bunt and came around to score on a two-out balk.
The Red Raiders used a pair of walks sandwiched between a single from Villeneuve to load the bases with two outs, but Great Danes starter Christian Mello used the fifth strikeout of his afternoon to strand the bases loaded.
After Lowe stranded a pair of baserunners in scoring position with two outs on a 2-2 strikeout in the fifth, the Red Raiders got a lead-off home run from Shouse to pull to within 3-2.
The blast left the bat at 112 MPH and went 361 feet, marking the second-straight day that Shouse has homered.
The game remained 3-2 UAlbany until the top of the seventh when the Great Danes used a sac-fly and two-out error to score three runs and take a 6-2 lead. The advantage was Albany's largest lead of the weekend.
Looking to respond, the Red Raiders did just that when a one-out hit-by-pitch and a 398-foot blast by Hughes brought Tech to within 6-4.
After a four-pitch free pass to Garcia, the Red Raiders immediately tied the ballgame one batter later when Rusinek launched a 409-foot home run off the scoreboard in right-center.
Returning for the eighth after stranding two runners on base on a strikeout looking, reliever Bryce Suiter tossed a scoreless eighth and scoreless ninth. In his first home appearance as a Red Raider, Suiter tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief striking out two. He earned his first career collegiate win.
The strong outing from Suiter set the stage in the bottom of the ninth for Villeneuve to be the hero.
Strolling to the plate after Rivers worked a seven-pitch walk with two outs, the Canadian first baseman turned on the first offering he saw from Albany's Alex Enea depositing the ball over the wall in left-center for a two-run walk-off blast.
The homer was the first walk-off blast by a Red Raider since Damian Bravo walked off UCF last May 10th.
UP NEXT:
The Red Raiders will look to close out the four game sweep of UAlbany tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m., when sophomore Connor Mohan takes the ball for his second Sunday start.
Team Stats
Batting:
3B: Stephens, Kyle 1
RBI: DeSarno, Patrick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mueller, Jaxon 1
Batting:
2B: Hughes, Logan 1 ; Rivers, Davis 2 ; Quintanar, Matt 1 ; Lopez, Tracer 1 ; Garcia, Linkin 1 ; Shouse, Connor 1
3B: Thompson, Kyeler 1
HR: Hughes, Logan 1
RBI: Hughes, Logan 5 ; Rivers, Davis 1 ; Quintanar, Matt 2 ; Villeneuve, Robin 1 ; Lopez, Tracer 2 ; Garcia, Linkin 1 ; Shouse, Connor 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Hughes, Logan 2 ; Rivers, Davis 1 ; Thompson, Kyeler 2 ; Quintanar, Matt 1 ; Villeneuve, Robin 1 ; Lopez, Tracer 3 ; Rusinek, Jesse 1 ; Garcia, Linkin 1 ; Shouse, Connor 2 ; Souza, Jace 1
SB: Thompson, Kyeler 1 ; Shouse, Connor 1
HBP: Garcia, Linkin 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
AB
3
R
3
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
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OF
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INF
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/ BaseballSS/2B
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
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RHP
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C
/ BaseballC
/ Baseball
LHP/OF
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
CF
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1B/OF
/ BaseballHighlights (UAlbany G3)
Saturday, February 21
Postgame Press Conference: UAlbany (Game 2, 3)
Saturday, February 21
Postgame Press Conference: UAlbany (Game One)
Friday, February 20
Highlights: UAlbany (Game One)
Friday, February 20