The No. 2 Texas Tech Red Raiders got a minor scare heading into the bottom of the eighth inning only up 6-3, but a five-run inning the next trip up for Tech proved to be the dagger in the midweek sweep over the UNLV Rebels.

Tech right-handed pitcher Hunter Dobbins dominated the mound, throwing five strikeouts in the first three innings. The Rebels got through their full starting lineup at the end of the third with Dobbins dealing.

Dobbins went six innings allowing four hits and striking out eight batters and no runs allowed. It was his longest outing of the season. In addition, Dobbins did not walk a batter while on the mound.

“Hunter was outstanding,” Texas Tech head coach Tim Tadlock said. “He set the tone for the day and allowed the guys to kind of get settled in at the plate and went out and out up a bunch of zeros and was commanding everything he threw. It’s fun to watch when a guy’s doing that.”

At the plate, in the bottom of the third with runners on first and second, freshman third baseman Jace Jung sent a shot over the right field wall for a three-run home run. Red Raiders led 4-0 after three innings.

In the bottom of the fifth with freshman Nate Rombach on first base, sophomore right fielder Dru Baker sent a deep ball out of the reach of UNLV left fielder Jason Sharman. Baker RBI doubled, bringing home Rombach and making it 5-0 and forcing a pitching change for the Rebels.

In the bottom of the sixth, senior second baseman Brian Klein doubled, making that his seven double in the last seven games. It is also Klein’s eighth double, which leads the Big 12 so far.

The Rebels used a rough start from Tech pitcher Ryan Sublette to load the bases and score three runs in the top of the seventh to make things interesting heading into the seventh inning stretch. Sublette walked two, allowed two hits, and gave up the three runs as junior lefty Jakob Brustoski came in to finish the top half.

Jung went back to work as he led off for the bottom of the seventh, sending a solo shot over the left-center field wall, cushioning the Tech lead 6-3.

The pitching in the top of the eighth proved to be big for Brustoski as he struck out the third-out batter with runners in scoring position.

Klein doubles, third on the day, 2-RBI, career-high. First red raider to hit three or more doubles since Josh Jung last season.

After a Cole Stilwell RBI single to bring in Klein, junior designated hitter Cody Masters, who was 1 for 4 before his next at-bat, drove a shot over the right field fence for a two-run dagger. What was a 6-3 close game suddenly opened up to a typical home game 11-3 lead for Tech.

In the top of the ninth with two outs, Stilwell made a great diving play to seal the game.

With the win, the Red Raiders improve to 13-1 on the season.

Klein had himself a day, going 4-4 at the plate in game two and 6-8 in the series. His game two was highlights by doubling three times, the first Red Raider to do that in a game since Josh Jung last season. In game one as a pinch hitter, Klein had a double and an RBI.

“The glory, it’s all the Lord’s,” Klein said. “So, I’m thankful for the results today because I can’t control that, but I just went up there just like every other day: just trying to put the barrel on the ball and swing good pitches just like (Tadlock) was talking about, and that’s what I did. I happened to find the barrel and find some holes.”

Klein and Jung came in clutch when the game looked to be close and UNLV looked to capitalize. Jung provided the spark on the offensive end with the solo home run and the rest fell into place, scoring five runs to secure the home win and series sweep.

“I think we showed that this weekend as well,” Klein said. “You know, just being able to fight and keep backing up our pitchers as well. (Sublette) kind of came in and didn’t really find it, and (Brustoski) came and picked him up, and then, it was our jobs as hitters to back in there and have good at-bats and give our pitchers some cushion. That’s what we did today. So, it all just starts with sticking with our approach, hitting those good pitches, just hit them hard because we can’t control those hits, but the fact that we did was awesome.”

Tadlock said that offensive spark in the eighth was big saying Klein had set up that inning with one of his three doubles on the day.

“Jace got a pitch to hit,” Tadlock said, “and he’s a strong kid and it was pretty cool.”

“Again, he got a pitch to hit, put a good move on it, and man, he really made a big difference in the game today.”

Hunter Dobbins recorded his second win of the season in the 11-3 win over the Rebels in game two.

Dobbins’s curveball seems to be working today. Tadlock said his command with the curveball was a wipeout pitch, adding there were a lot of swings and misses on that one pitch.

“It is if he’s throwing it in the right location,” Tadlock said. “It’s really tough when a guy can start the fastball and the slider in the same spot coming out of the same window, and he was able to do that today.”

Dobbins said it feels good to take the pressure off the batters when the pitching staff goes and pitches well, saying it builds confidence especially with conference play starting next Friday.

Dobbins also noted how well the batters played today, especially in a critical point in the game.

“It was definitely fun,” Dobbins said. “Started hitting the ball square, I mean Jace had a great day, Klein had a great day. It’s definitely fun once you’re done, getting over there and just watch our hitters do their thing.”