A freshman outfielder from Brock took the Big 12 by storm last year. Sawyer Strosnider from TCU was all-Big 12, the Big 12 freshman of the year and even an all-America honoree by the College Baseball Foundation.
Now the Texas Tech baseball team has a freshman outfielder from Brock who'd like to make his mark, too. He certainly did on Sunday, Feb. 22.
Jesse Rusinek went 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs, two stolen bases and two sparkling defensive plays. He capped the day by taking a bases-loaded, walk-off walk as the Red Raiders run-ruled UAlbany 10-0 in eight innings, finishing a four-game series sweep at Dan Law Field/Rip Griffin Park.
"It started off not great, grounding out," Rusinek said. "But I had a good comeback, had a couple good catches in the outfield. It also helps with the team in the dugout. They're very good about supporting you, and when you're down, they'll bring you up. I had a good day at the plate the rest of the day."
Rusinek is a 6-foot, 193-pound lefthander training as a two-way player: On the mound and in the outfield. At Class 4A Brock, Strosnider typically played center field with Rusinek in right.
In a comeback victory Saturday, Rusinek hit a tying, two-run homer in the seventh inning. On Sunday, he doubled home Tech's first two runs and beat out an infield hit. In the seventh inning, he had an RBI single and two stolen bases.
He was just as impactful with the glove. He raced into foul territory to make a catch in the fourth inning and then came in to snag a sinking liner in the sixth. In both instances he left his feet to snare balls off the bat of Great Danes leadoff batter Patrick DeSarno.
"He can really run," Tech coach Tim Tadlock said. "He's a baseball player. He took two hits away in the outfield that I don't know that we've had a guy catch those balls in a long time."
Tech (5-3) won Friday's series opener 16-8, then swept a doubleheader Saturday — 15-1 with a pitching gem from Lukas Pirko and 8-6 with a walk-off two-run homer from Robin Villeneuve.
Here are more developments from the week.
The bats break out
Starting with a 21-12 victory Tuesday at UT-Rio Grande Valley, Tech has put together a five-game win streak. During that stretch, third baseman Connor Shouse is 11 for 21 with 2 home runs and 7 RBIs; shortstop Linkin Garcia is 9 for 21 with 3 homers, 4 doubles and 13 RBIs; and left fielder Logan Hughes is 9 for 19 with 2 homers, 3 doubles and 12 RBIs.
Another pitching milestone
On Saturday, Lukas Pirko threw the first complete game — albeit a run-rule-shortened seven innings — by a Tech pitcher since April 2022. On Sunday, sophomore righthanders Connor Mohan and Kaysen Raineri threw the Red Raiders' first shutout since Kyle Robinson and Josh Sanders combined on a 2-0 triumph at Baylor on March 15, 2024, and the first home shutout since Brandon Birdsell and Colin Clark three-hit Kansas State 14-0 on April 9, 2022.
Mohan yielded two hits in four innings, walking one and striking out three. Raineri (1-0), a transfer from Hawaii, pitched the last four innings, holding the Great Danes to one hit with no walks and seven strikeouts.
"Fastball, slider felt good," Raineri said. "I was just trying to locate, throw them in the zone."
Mohan threw only 57 pitches, but Tadlock said that was enough considering he's been "under the weather."
UAlbany (0-4) is a program on a five-season stretch of losing records and, since the calendar turned to 2026, the Great Danes have had only two hours of outdoor preparation, coach Jon Mueller said. In other words, it's far from the most formidable competition Tech pitchers will face, but for a staff that's been next to last in the Big 12 in ERA the past two seasons, it's progress.
Who's in right?
Through eight games, four players have started in right field: Connor Shouse, Jace Souza, Caden Ferraro and Rusinek. Tadlock said before the season he'd like to keep Shouse in right, but shortstop Coleman Ryan's defensive struggles on the first weekend of the season prompted switching Shouse to third base and moving Linkin Garcia from third to shortstop.
Tadlock was asked if he'd eventually settle on one right fielder or if it's a position that could be used to give multiple players at-bats.
"I think the kids will decide that," Tadlock said. "And, again, if you play good, you stay in there. That's kind of how that works. There can be some matchup stuff, absolutely. Opening weekend, with the two lefthanders we saw, it was easy to go, 'OK, let's try to get as many righthanded bats in there as we could.' "
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Jesse Rusinek looks to be breakout freshman for Texas Tech baseball