Louisiana Tech (17-6, 3-1) went to Hattiesburg, MS and won three of four games against preseason Conference USA favorite Southern Miss (14-9, 1-3) this weekend.
Let's take a look at how it happened.
Friday Night | Fincher Dominant, Tech holds on late to win 3-2
Trailing 1-0 in the 7th inning, Southern Miss went to its bullpen to relieve Hunter Stanley. Tech took advantage.
Shemar Page singled to leadoff the inning, and Alex Ray singled two hitters later.
With one out, Taylor Young delivers a run-scoring double off the LF wall to tie the game at 1.
Ray would then make it 2-1 Tech when he came in on a wild pitch by Southern Miss reliever Ryan Och.
Hunter Wells would then extend the Tech lead to 3-1 with a SAC fly to CF that scored Young.
The Golden Eagles would get one run in the 8th to make it 3-2 Tech.
In the bottom of the 9th, Southern Miss would get runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out, but Landon Tomkins would shut the door with two straight strikeouts to earn his second save of the year.
Jonathan Fincher was fantastic on the mound pitching 7.1 innings and allowing only 2 earned runs. Fincher earned his 4th win of the season.
Saturday (DH) | Golden Eagles win Game 1, but Gibson dominant in shutout in Game 2
Southern Miss scored 14 runs on 12 hits and 7 walks to take Game 1 of the DH 14-6 Saturday afternoon.
In the win, USM hit 4 home runs.
Ryan Jennings took the loss for Tech on the mound after allowing 5 earned runs in 3 innings of work.
At the plate, Steele Netterville went 3/4 with 1 HR and 3 RBI for the Bulldogs.
In the night cap, Cade Gibson was outstanding on the mound for Tech.
The senior left-hander tossed a 3-hit shutout in Tech's 4-0 win. There was no drama involved, in addition to the 3 hits, Gibson walked 1 and only threw 87 pitches.
Offensively, Netterville came up big again. The senior right fielder had 2 of Tech's 5 hits, including hit 5th home run of the season.
Sunday | Tech rallies from behind to defeat USM 8-7 and win series
Winning a series on the road isn't easy, but don't tell Lane Burroughs' squad that.
Southern Miss punched Louisiana Tech in the mouth early taking a 4-0 lead after two innings of play.
Tech would get a single run in the 3rd inning to make it 4-1 USM after 3 innings of play.
With USM leading 4-1 in the 6th inning, Parker Bates lead-off with a single, then Steele Netterville hit a hot shot to third that Danny Lynch couldn't handle to give the Bulldogs runners on 1st & 3rd with no outs.
Tanner Hall would enter the game in relief where Manny Garcia would promptly welcome him with an RBI single to LF to trim the USM lead to 4-2.
Shemar Page would then get down a beautiful SAC bunt down to give Tech runners at 2nd and 3rd with 1 out.
Ben Brantley would come in to pinch hit and drive in Netterville on a fielder's choice where USM 1B Chris Sargent chose to come home with the ball but didn't get an out.
One hitter later Kyle Hasler would beat out a would be double-play ball that would allow Garcia to come in from 3rd and tie the game at 4.
The two teams then traded blows in the 7th. Tech would get 3 in the top half, but USM would respond with a 3-spot of its own tying the game at 7 entering the 8th inning.
In the 8th inning, Parker Bates delivered a two-strike single to RF to score Alex Ray from 2nd and give Tech an 8-7 lead.
Tyler Follis would enter the game in the 9th and strike out 2 Golden Eagles in earning his 2nd save of the season.
Kyle Griffen earned the win in relief after one scoreless inning of work.
Offensively, Bates led the way with 3 hits and 2 RBI.
Taylor Young, Hunter Wells, Manny Garcia, and Kyle Hasler also contributed 2 hits at the plate.
Tech is now 6-0 on Sundays in during the 2021 season.
Up Next
Tech will host UAB in a 4-game series inside J.C. Love Field on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week.
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