Texas Tech's Kevin Bazzell finding rhythm, emerging as leader
After missing three weeks due to an undisclosed illness, Texas Tech's pre-season All-American catcher Kevin Bazzell is getting his rhythm at the plate back, having homered four times in two weeks since his return.
Possibly Bazzell's biggest night as a Red Raider came Monday against Stanford in a wild, twisting and turning game that Tech won on a walk-off single from Austin Green in the 11th inning.
It was how the Red Raiders got to the Green walk-off that was key.
Bazzell with a two home run night with the key swing coming in the bottom of the ninth after Stanford had taken a 9-7 lead from some defensive woes in the road half from the Red Raiders.
Damian Bravo singled to reach and Bazzell represented the tying run with one out in the ninth and homered off an upper-half fastball from Stanford reliever Kassius Thomas on a 2-1 count to tie the game at nine.
Bazzell had not touched a baseball for three weeks before his return to the lineup against Baylor on March 15th, but has since rekindled his timing and confidence at the plate.
"Yeah, seeing a lot better. It was tough at first but you know, just getting there every day and you know getting my work in," Bazzell said. "It's definitely starting to slow down."
Due to the illness, Bazzell had to rebuild some strength to be able to get back into the position to make an impact for the Red Raiders.
"I lost some weight and my strength was down," Bazzell said. "Thank Brian (Sampson) and all the training staff...helping me get back strength wise and it's starting to feel a lot better."
Bazzell's presence in the lineup was dearly missed for the Red Raiders team, but his presence behind the plate was something that head coach Tim Tadlock believes is a big part of his game.
"I think he's he's catching at a pretty high level. He's throwing really good," Tadlock said. "When things are going good, it's going to look easy for him. And we were very fortunate tonight to come out on the right side of that game."
Texas Tech looks to continue to fight through adversity as the Red Raiders sit at 20-9 on the season after the comeback win against Stanford, something that Bazzell thinks could springboard the Red Raiders.
"I mean, momentum is the biggest thing in baseball," Bazzell said. "We've played some tough games, some one run games lately and obviously stuff like that gives you momentum, so just kind of ride off of it."