Kansas State came out swinging early and put the Big 12 regular season champions against the ropes but Texas Tech mounted a mid-innings rally to advance to play West Virginia in the the winner's bracket of the Big 12 Tournament.
A 2-RBI double by Jake Shudder put the first two runs on the board in the top of the opening frame and then a run scored by Josh Rolette had the Wildcats rolling with a 3-0 lead. After the Red Raiders plated a run in the bottom half of the first, to pull within 3-1, the Wildcats struck again in the top of the fourth when Michael Smith sent a 2-RBI single down the left field line and the upset was brewing at 5-1.
Texas Tech continued to bounce back though, scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth and then three more in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. Feeling the momentum slide their way the Red Raiders took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth when Tyler Nelsony hit a bases-loaded single to score Stephen Smith. Not satisfied with a one-run lead, a sacrifice from Eric Gutierrez scored Tyler Floyd to boost the lead to 7-5 at the end of the frame.
The Red Raiders scored another insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to mark their third consecutive inning of bringing runners all the way around. Their 8-5 win over Kansas State reserved them a date with West Virginia on Thursday. The Wildcats will play Oklahoma in the first elimination game of the conference tournament, with a start time of 9:00 Thursday morning.