Lukas Pirko dominates in a run-rule gem and Robin Villeneuve crushes a walk-off homer as Texas Tech sweeps UAlbany in a wild doubleheader.
Texas Tech baseball delivered a little bit of everything Saturday at Rip Griffin Park: dominance, drama and a dagger. Game one was all Lukas Pirko.
The junior right-hander turned in the best start of his Red Raider career, spinning a seven-inning complete game in a 15-1 run-rule dismantling of UAlbany.
Pirko flirted with a no-hitter into the fifth inning and kept a shutout intact until the seventh, finishing with seven strikeouts, zero walks and just three hits allowed over 90 pitches.
He became the first Tech starter in nearly four seasons to toss a run-rule complete game.
While Pirko carved, the offense detonated. Logan Hughes went 3-for-3 with five RBIs, including a 392-foot three-run blast that blew the game open early. Kyeler Thompson and Tracer Lopez set the table repeatedly, and Connor Shouse delivered two RBIs of his own.
By the end of the third inning, Tech had already built a 14-0 cushion and turned the afternoon into a track meet.
But the nightcap? That was chaos.
Down 6-2 entering the bottom of the seventh, Texas Tech (4-3) flipped the script again. Hughes ignited the rally with a 398-foot two-run homer, cutting the deficit in half. Two batters later, freshman Jesse Rusinek launched a 409-foot missile off the scoreboard in right-center to knot the game at 6-6.
Momentum had officially changed sides. Reliever Bryce Suiter steadied things late, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings with two strikeouts to earn his first collegiate win. That set the stage for Robin Villeneuve in the ninth.
With two outs and Davis Rivers aboard following a patient walk, Villeneuve jumped on the first pitch he saw and sent it screaming toward left-center.
The ball cleared the wall — just beyond the reach of a leaping Luke Filippi - for a two-run walk-off homer that sealed an 8-6 comeback victory.
It was Texas Tech’s fourth rally from a multi-run deficit this week and the program’s first walk-off blast since last May.
The Red Raiders are now back over .500 and riding a four-game win streak. If Saturday was any indication, this team isn’t just capable of winning ... it’s built to make it loud.