Texas Tech’s Gavin Kash, Ryan Free, Gage Harrelson Sweep Weekly Honors
The Texas Tech Red Raiders have swept the Big 12 weekly awards for the first time in program history. Gavin Kash, Ryan Free and Gage Harrelson were named the Player of the Week, Pitcher of the Week and Newcomer of the Week, respectively, it was announced Monday.
Kash collected a hit in each of the Red Raiders’ five games, hitting .450 on the week. That included a trio of home runs and 10 RBI, nine of which came in two games on the way to a series victory at Oklahoma. Additionally, he walked four times, recording a .520 on-base percentage, and he slugged .950 over the week.
Free appeared in relief for a combined 6 2/3 innings over two games, highlighted by retiring all 15 batters he faced out of the bullpen on Saturday. He entered with an 8-5 lead in the bottom of the fifth, then wiped out nine hitters, as Texas Tech secured the series win. Free fanned nine of the 15 batters he faced, and struck out the side in the ninth inning, needing only 66 pitches to complete five perfect innings while setting a new career-best for strikeouts.
Harrelson garnered his second weekly honor in a span of three weeks after hitting .480 over five contests. He notched at least one hit in all five games and tallied multi-hit games in four of those five, pushing his season total to a team-high 21 multi-hit outings. The freshman set a single-game season-best for hits in a 4-for-6 showing with three RBI in Friday’s extra-innings battle, as he finished a homer shy of the cycle.
These three and the rest of the Red Raiders will get back to action with a midweek set against Grand Canyon, starting with a 6:30 p.m. CT Tuesday first pitch. They’ll welcome Baylor to town this upcoming weekend.
