Tech Baseball Rallies Past St. John`s

MIDLAND, Texas - Junior designated hitter Geoff Byrns keyed a four-run rally in the bottom of the eighth as Texas Tech defeated St. John`s 10-6 on Saturday evening in the Midland College Classic at Citibank Ballpark. Texas Tech is now riding a five-game win streak as the Red Raiders stand at 6-3 on the young season after starting out the year 1-3. St. John`s falls to 0-2 on the year after dropping a 14-inning thriller (10-9) to Dallas Baptist earlier this afternoon. After spotting St. John`s a two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth that tied the score at 6-6, the Tech offense did some two-out hitting of its own. Geoff Byrns gave the Red Raiders a 7-6 lead when he hit a bloop single to shallow center field that allowed Chris Hall to score from third. Junior left fielder Doug Thennis gave the Red Raiders two insurance runs with a two-RBI double to right field and he would finish the evening with a game-high three RBIs. Freshman center fielder Taylor Ashby rounded out the scoring for Tech with an RBI single that made the score 10-6. Thennis got the Red Raiders going early as he put Tech on the scoreboard with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the second. Ashby followed up with a triple to right field and then scored on an RBI groundout by James Leverton that made the score 2-0. St. John`s finally got to Tech starter Colt Hynes in the top of the fifth inning as the Red Storm took a 5-2 lead after producing five hits and scored two runs on a Tech defensive miscue. The Red Raiders chipped away at the Red Storm lead by plating a solo run in the bottom of the fifth and then regained the lead with a three-run sixth. Matt Smith gave Tech a 6-5 lead in the sixth with an RBI single up the middle and finished the night with a season-high three hits as he went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Collin Auten (1-0) blew a save opportunity when he came into the game with two outs in the eighth but held on to pick up his first win as he retired the final four batters of the game. Miguel Valcarcel was tagged with the loss for St. John`s as he gave up six runs on five hits over 2 2/3 innings of relief. Texas Tech will wrap up play in the Midland College Classic on Sunday afternoon when the Red Raiders face St. John`s at 2 p.m.