This story has been updated with post-game comments.
Logan Hughes and Peyton Schulze homered twice each, and the Texas Tech baseball team dispensed with New Mexico State 13-6 in nonconference action May 6 at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park.
Hughes’ home runs gave him 16 for the season, second in the Big 12 behind Kansas right fielder Jackson Hauge, who hit his 18th on Tuesday. Schulze’s homers were his second and third.
Schulze was an all-Pac-12 honoree a year ago for California. With Tech, he’d been in a deep slump until recently.
“This game’s never been easy,” he said. “It kicks you down, but I think just preparing the right way to getting 1% better every day has taught me that you struggle in this game and you’ve just got to keep grinding away.”
Schulze finished with five RBIs for Tech (17-28), which hosts Central Florida in its final Big 12 home series at 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Leadoff batter Tracer Lopez drove in two runs with a single and a groundout.
New Mexico State (22-26) lost its fourth game in a row. The Aggies took a 3-0 first-inning lead against Tech starter Connor Mohan. Bryce Campbell drove in the first two with a double, and he scored on a Camden Kaufman double.
The Aggies broke a 3-3 tie in the third when Boston Vest and Kaufman hit RBI singles off Mohan.
Hughes’ two-run homer off the scoreboard in right-center put Tech ahead 6-5 in the fourth inning. In the sixth, Hughes pulled a leadoff homer to right, and Schulze hit an opposite-field two-run drive to right.
Schulze hammered another two-run homer in the eighth, this one to center.
Tech coach Tim Tadlock said recently Schulze has been working to manage the length in his swing. Schulze said after Tuesday’s game assistant coach Eric Gutierrez has been a resource.
“I think me and Gute have just been working on getting my timing down and staying through the middle, kind of play to my strengths more than worry about the weakness,” Schulze said. “I’ve just been swinging the ball well and just trying to do damage every swing I take.”
Tech has announced the cancellation of a May 7 home game against New Mexico, citing the university final exams schedule from May 8-13 and the individual study day preceding it. Tech also cited “projected weather conditions,” though the National Weather Service forecast calls for mild weather and no rain.
Where to watch Texas Tech baseball vs. New Mexico State
Online streaming: ESPN+
Texas Tech baseball vs. New Mexico State live updates
End of 8th inning: Texas Tech 13, New Mexico State 6
Peyton Schulze hit his second home run of the game, a two-run drive to center field.
End of 7th inning: Texas Tech 11, New Mexico State 6
The Aggies stemmed the Texas Tech onslaught with a run in the seventh. Steve Solorzano cracked a leadoff double and scored on Boston Vest’s two-out triple.
End of 6th inning: Texas Tech 11, New Mexico State 5
Texas Tech has scored in every inning except the first. The Red Raiders added three in the sixth on a leadoff homer by Logan Hughes, his second of the game and 16th of the season, and a two-run drive by Peyton Schulze.
End of 5th inning: Texas Tech 8, New Mexico State 5
Texas Tech added two runs in the fifth on a Dylan Maxcey run-scoring single and a Tracer Lopez RBI groundout. Maxcey’s hit scored Antonelli Savattere, who led off the inning with a single, and Lopez scored Peyton Schulze, who had walked.
End of 4th inning: Texas Tech 6, New Mexico State 5
Texas Tech took its first lead of the night in the fourth inning when Logan Hughes hit his team-leading 15th home run, a two-run blast off the scoreboard in right-center field. It scored Kyeler Thompson, who hit a two-out single in front of him.
The Red Raiders had narrowed the gap to 5-4 in the third as Damian Bravo walked and scored on a Robin Villeneuve base hit. The Aggies stranded two runners in scoring position in the top of the fourth when Thompson made a sliding catch in right-center to take away a hit from Bryce Campbell.
Middle of 3rd inning: New Mexico State 5, Texas Tech 3
New Mexico State regained the lead on two-out RBI singles from Boston Vest and Camden Kaufman. Of the five runs the Aggies have scored off Tech starter Connor Mohan, three got on base by walks.
End of 2nd inning: New Mexico State 3, Texas Tech 3
Texas Tech batted around in the second inning, which ended with Logan Hughes lining out with the bases loaded. The Red Raiders got three runs, though, with run-scoring double by Peyton Schulze, an RBI groundout from Jace Souza and a run-scoring single from Tracer Lopez.
End of 1st inning: New Mexico State 3, Texas Tech 0
The game started after a 1-hour, 10-minute weather delay, and New Mexico State wasted no time roughing up Connor Mohan. After Mitch Namie squibbed an infield single and Steve Solorzano walked, cleanup batter Bryce Campbell hit a two-run double. Three batters later, Camden Kaufman hit an RBI double with Boston Vest thrown out at the plate trying to score from first.
Texas Tech baseball lineup
Tracer Lopez, ss
Kyeler Thompson, cf
Logan Hughes, lf
Damian Bravo, rf
Antonelli Savattere, 2b
Robin Villeneuve, 1b
Peyton Schulze, 3b
Jace Souza, dh
Dylan Maxcey, c
Connor Mohan, p
Texas Tech baseball game in weather delay
The Texas Tech-New Mexico State game is in a weather delay because of multiple lightning strikes in the area. The tentative start time is 7:10 p.m., barring further delays.
Texas Tech baseball next five games
All times CDT. Asterisks (*) denote Big 12 games. Home games in ALL CAPS.
∎ May 7: NEW MEXICO, canceled
∎ May 9: CENTRAL FLORIDA*, 6 p.m.
∎ May 10: CENTRAL FLORIDA*, 2 p.m.
∎ May 11: CENTRAL FLORIDA*, 1 p.m.
∎ May 13: ABILENE CHRISTIAN, 2 p.m.
∎ May 15: at Brigham Young*, 7 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Peyton Schulze, Logan Hughes homer twice apiece as Texas Tech baseball beats NMSU
Reporting by Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
