Texas Tech baseball season ends, despite strong start from Trendan Parish
The fourth day of a conference tournament typically isn't the setting for a pitchers' duel.
Sam Garcia and Trendan Parish delivered one, Garcia's gem ending the Texas Tech baseball team's season at the Big 12 tournament in Arlington.
The senior lefthander allowed three hits in eight shutout innings to lead No. 17 Oklahoma State to a 4-0 victory Friday in an elimination game at Globe Life Field.
Garcia (7-3), the Cowboys' usual Friday night starter, struck out eight with no walks. He allowed two-out singles by Kevin Bazzell and Austin Green in the first and second innings and a two-out double by Damian Bravo in the sixth.
Parish (2-2) made his first start of the season and pitched six innings-plus, allowing two runs on five hits. The junior righthander departed one batter into the seventh, after which Josh Sanders yielded an RBI single by Lane Forsythe charged to Parish's ledger and a two-run homer in the eighth by Nolan Schubart.
No. 2 seed Oklahoma State beat No. 8 seed Central Florida 10-1 later Friday in a losers bracket final. Oklahoma State (39-17) will play No. 1 seed Oklahoma (37-18) at 6 p.m. Saturday in the championship game.
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Trendan Parish gave Texas Tech a chance to win
Parish didn't pitch from April 2 through May 16, but he retired all four batters he faced last week in his return at Arizona State and was ready to go Friday. Parish went into the seventh trailing 1-0 and was relieved after giving up a leadoff double having thrown a season-high 84 pitches.
How did Sam Garcia's performance compare to his usual?
Let's just say it's not unusual for him to mow down batters. The game against Tech was Garcia's seventh quality start of the season and his third in a row, quality start defined as going six innings and allowing three earned runs or fewer. He lowered his earned-run average to 3.27.
How did Texas Tech's 2024 compare to the norm?
In short, it didn't. The Red Raiders, finishing 33-26, will miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2015 team went 31-24. Tech rebounded from that season to reach the College World Series three times in the next four years.
Losing pitchers Zane Petty, Parish, Taber Fast, Mac Heuer, Jack Washburn and Brady Trombello for big chunks of the season hurt, but the Red Raiders had lapses in pitching, defense and timely hitting.
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This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech baseball season ends, despite good start from Trendan Parish
