Monteverde’s magnificent performance leads Tech to a 7-2 win

Taking the mound just 84 miles from where he went to high school, Patrick Monteverde delivered one of his best outings of the season. The redshirt senior went seven innings, allowing only two hits, no runs, and striking out seven in a dominate win by the Red Raiders.

Before Monteverde even took the mound, the Red Raider offense struck early in the opening inning as both Fulford and Jung drove home the first runs of the game.

Monteverde would take over from there. Sliding up from his usual Saturday starting slot due to the injuries the Red Raiders have suffered on the pitching staff, he put on a show for approximately 40 friends and family members who made the quick trip down from Pittsburgh with “Terrible Towels” in full force. The left-hander did face some early adversity in the 2nd inning with 3 walks in the inning, but was able to work his way out of the inning unscathed. From there, the Mountaineers would see their next 17 out of 19 hitters retired. This was the fourth time in his nine starts that Monteverde was able to go seven complete innings. It was a great bounce-back performance after giving up five earned runs to TCU in his previous start. His season ERA is now 2.24 with the Red Raiders going 7-2 in games that he has started.

The pitching performance wasn’t the only noteworthy performance of the evening. Braxton Fulford came a double short of the cycle in a 3-hit game. His 4 RBI performance was capped with this homerun in the 5th that gave Texas Tech a 5-0 lead.

Texas Tech had one other multi-hit performance in the game. That came in a 2-for-4 effort from 3rd baseman Parker Kelly. Throughout the game, both Kelly and shortstop Cal Conley demonstrated some exceptional defensive work in support of Monteverde’s efforts.

West Virginia would eventually add 2 meaningless runs in the bottom of the 9th before Josh Sanders closed the door on a 7-2 victory. Texas Tech (25-7, 6-4) continues to play strong on its current five game winning streak and looks for the series win against West Virginia (13-15,4-6) as Micah Dallas will take the hill for the Red Raiders on Saturday at 3 p.m. CST in Morgantown.