LUBBOCK, Texas - Right-hander Blake Quinn set a new career high in strikeouts and Cal State Fullerton upended Texas Tech 7-3 Friday night at Rip Griffin Park.
Quinn went five and 2/3 innings and allowed just two hits, walked three and fanned a career-best 10 batters, eclipsing the nine he struck out in his last start against Indiana. Quinn picked up his second win for the Titans (5-3) as the pitching staff shut down the Red Raiders (7-4) potent offense for eight of the nine innings.
Offensively, the Titans were led by Chris Hudgins and Timmy Richards who combined to go 3-for-7 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Dalton Blaser went 2-for-3 while Josh Vargas and Tanner Pinkston also tallied a hit on the night.
The Titans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first, taking advantage of some early wildness from Texas Tech starter Ryan Moseley. Tyler Stieb drew a four-pitch walk and then advanced to second on a groundout. With two away, Pinkston laced a single to center to score Stieb easily and put the Titans up early.
Fullerton added a run in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout by Scott Hurst and then broke the game open with three runs in the fifth inning.
Jerrod Bravo and Pinkston drew one-out walks and then Hudgins smacked a double down the left field line to plate Bravo and put Fullerton up 3-0. With the infield in, Richards fisted a single that landed just past the infield up the middle to score the other two runners and give the Titans a commanding 5-0 lead.
That is all Quinn needed as he silenced a Texas Tech offense that came into the game batting .325 as a unit with seven players batting .300 or better on the season. Quinn allowed just one baserunner, a double in the second through the first five innings of play.
He retired the first two batters in the sixth, notching his career-high 10th strikeout in the process. But the Red Raiders worked a couple of walks with a single sandwiched in between to load the bases, putting an end to Quinn's night.
Reliever Scott Serigstad entered to face Tyler Neslony and promptly got the Red Raiders left fielder to fly out on the first pitch to end the threat.
Fullerton put two more runs on the board in the seventh to effectively put the game away. The Red Raiders scored three in the ninth but Dylan Prohoroff struck out Trey Ochoa to end the game with runners on second and third.
Moseley took the loss for Texas Tech, allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits. He also walked three and recorded one strikeout.
Eric Gutierrez went 2-for-3 for the Red Raiders, the only player on the team with a multi-hit game.
The Titans and Red Raiders will face off in game two of the series Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. CT (9:30 a.m. PT) with John Gavin taking the mound for Fullerton. Right-hander Ty Harpenau will draw the start for Texas Tech, looking for his first decision of the season
Notes: Gavin Velasquez and Blake Workman each made their Fullerton debuts on Friday night. Velasquez retired the side but Workman surrendered three earned runs in the ninth inning, becoming the first Titans reliever to be charged with an earned run this season… The Red Raiders had six hits on the night, the fewest they have had this season. They tallied seven hits on Feb. 26 against Houston… Quinn became the first Titans pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts this season… Dakota Wix entered the game as a defensive substitution in the seventh inning and grounded out to short in his only at bat, putting a halt to his five-game hitting streak.