Stanford Walloped Texas Tech in Lubbock Super Regional
That was an utter beatdown of epic proportions. The underdog came into Lubbock and absolutely manhandled the better team from start to finish. In fact, this weekend, there's zero doubt that Stanford was the better team. The total score of the Super Regional through two games was 24-3. Texas Tech scored all three runs in game one.
Stanford used two masterful performances on the mound to dismantle the sticks of Texas Tech who couldn't figure out the breaking ball through 18 innings of baseball. A team that averaged more than seven runs a game and hadn't been shut out since mid-March, the only time all season before this weekend, got shut out in the biggest game of the year.
That's baseball.
Brock Jones was the offensive star for Stanford. He hit three home runs on Saturday, including a grand slam, to lead the Cardinal to victory. Those two starters that dominated the Red Raiders threw 238 pitches in 16.1 innings. Brendan Beck threw 7.1 innings on Friday, then in the eliminating effort, Alex Williams licked his hand all the way to a complete-game shutout.
Plenty can be said about Texas Tech's improbable run through the season after injuries decimated a National Championship caliber team turning them into a really good national seed who ran out of momentum against a really solid Stanford team in the Elite 8 of college baseball.
Now that the season is over, we head into an offseason that's going to be incredibly interesting. With the stolen year of COVID-19 returning eligibility to the entirety of college baseball, everyone could potentially return to the Red Raiders except for the lone super senior's Connor Queen and Patrick Monteverde. The problem with an elite program, which Texas Tech is, the draft could potentially take several players off the roster before their eligibility expires.
That's a great problem to have, but it's still going to be something to pay attention to over the next month. The MLB draft is going to be a little different than in years past, with the exception of last season. The 2021 draft will be held on July 11th-13th and will go 20 rounds instead of the traditional 40 rounds.
Among the draft-eligible are Cal Conley, Micah Dallas, and Dylan Neuse. There are plenty of others though with up to 10 potential Red Raiders draft-worthy. Of course, the MLB draft is unlike the NBA and NFL drafts. Even if a Red Raider is drafted that doesn't mean they'll leave Texas Tech.
John McMillon was drafted out of high school and came to Texas Tech. Then he was drafted as a Red Raider before returning to school for a final season.
It's going to be a wild ride between now and the end of July.