Feb. 20, 2004

Box Score

LUBBOCK, Texas - Jose Delgado's walk-off triple in the bottom of the ninth gave Texas Tech a 10-9 win over Northern Illinois in the first game of a three-game series at Dan Law Field on Friday afternoon.

Hays Postgame(225k)

Junior shortstop Cameron Blair had a stellar day at the plate as he was 4-for-6 with four RBI and three runs scored. All four of his RBI came when he hit the first grand slam of the year for Tech in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Texas Tech (6-1) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning when Blair led off the frame with a single to right and junior third baseman Josh Haney scored him later on with a single through the left side.

Northern Illinois (0-1) tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Eric Sansouci. After holding Tech scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, the Huskies took their first lead of the game when right fielder Mike Santoro hit a solo home run over the wall in left field.

The Red Raiders bounced back in the bottom of the sixth when Cody Fuller reached on a throwing error by Husky pitcher Joe Piekarz. Fuller moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from catcher Cooper Fouts and a single from Blair. Junior second baseman Jose Delgado plated him on an RBI fielder's choice, tying the game at 2-2.

Down 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh, Husky reliever Mark Mallo issued a free pass to Michael Mask on a hit-by-pitch and Haney followed up with a two-run home run to give Tech a 4-3 lead. Tech wasn't finished in the inning as two Northern Illinois relievers would walk the bases loaded and Blair hit a grand slam over the left field fence to put Tech ahead 8-3. The grand slam was the first by a Tech player since Evan Shahak hit a gem against West Texas A&M on Feb. 4 of last year. Tech scored six runs in the inning on just two hits.

Northern Illinois would not go away quietly as the Huskies scored three more runs in the top of the eighth to pull within two.

Junior Madison Edwards gave Tech a 9-6 when he delivered a pinch-hit single straight up the middle scoring Michael Mask.

Northern Illinois tied the game with a two-out rally in the top of the ninth that included an error by Tech first baseman David Steffey and three clutch hits from the Husky offense. Scott Simon's two-RBI double to center accounted for the tying runs.

In the bottom of the ninth, Blair reached on a fielding error by third baseman Rob Marconi and then scored the winning run in the next at-bat as Jose Delgado hit a walk-off triple to center field to give the Red Raiders a 10-9 win.

Dallas Braden received a no-decision in this third start of the year despite going seven strong innings and allowing two earned runs on six hits while striking out eight. Tanner McElroy (1-0) picked up the win in relief for Tech as he picked up the final out in the top of the ninth when he struckout Husky first baseman Kyle Pettengell. Trevor Wohlgemuth (0-1) took the loss for Northern Illinois.

Texas Tech and Northern Illinois will play the second-game of the three-game series at noon on Saturday. Fans who have tickets to the Texas Tech-Texas A&M men's basketball game at 3 p.m. can show their tickets for free admission to tomorrow's baseball game.