Louisiana Tech (9-8) split their midweek series against Air Force, winning game one 5-0 and losing game two 12-10.
The Bulldogs begin conference play on Friday against D1 Baseball favorite Charlotte 49ers.
GAME ONE | Bulldogs shut out Falcons 5-0 in the bounce-back effort.
WIN | Landon Tompkins (3-0) LOSS | Jake Sansing (1-2)
Senior RHP Landon Tompkins successfully completed the first start of his career on Wednesday, pitching three shutout innings and only allowing two hits on the day.
The rest of the rotation also played nearly perfectly, a much-needed performance after the disappointing series at Arkansas.
Alec Sparks pitched two innings without allowing a hit, Ryan Harland lasted three innings and only gave up one hit before Friday starter Jonathan Fincher came in and ended the Air Force at bat in only 10 pitches.
Louisiana Tech’s pitching staff concluded their masterpiece of an evening with 17 strikeouts and a shutout of Air Force.
On offense the Bulldogs got things started early, beginning with a Brody Drost walk, Ethan Bates hit a double, followed by Dalton Davis knocking in Drost. Immediately after, Karson Evans hit a sac fly in the ideal spot and gave the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead.
In the sixth, the Diamond Dogs extended the lead started by a Logan McLeod walk with two outs, before Jeffrey Ince hit a bomb to give Tech a comfortable 4-0 advantage.
Louisiana Tech added an extra run in the eighth via a Jonathan Hogart double that scored Adarius Myers to give the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead.
The Bulldogs were without a couple of key contributors on Tuesday: Jorge Corona and Walker Burchfield. They both picked up a contagious bug in Fayetteville for the Arkansas game and will also be out on Wednesday.
GAME TWO | Bulldogs’ rally comes up short, loses 12-10 to Falcons.
WIN | Jason Shuger (1-1) LOSS | Nick Fraginals (0-1)
Wednesday’s contest was a letdown on the mound, especially after the pitching staff’s stellar shutout in the Tuesday outing.
Air Force was able to enjoy success against the majority of the seven pitchers that Tech used on Wednesday, scoring runs in five different innings.
In the third, the Bulldogs allowed an RBI single as well as a 2-run bomb. In the fourth, Tech gave up two runs as a result of a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch. Air Force was able to put up a pair of three-run innings in the sixth and eighth to add to their successful offensive day.
Freshman Karson Evans shined once again, finishing the game with three hits, 2 RBIs, and one run scored for the Diamond Dogs.
Down 8-2, Jonathan Hogart boomed an essential three-run homer to cut the lead down to 8-5.
The Falcons answered back and increased the lead to 12-6, and the Bulldogs put together one last shot at a rally. Adarius Myers hit a double with the bases loaded to score two for the Bulldogs and cut the lead to four. Logan McLeod followed with a sac fly to make the score 12-9.
Will Safford continued the rally attempt by hitting an RBI groundout to first, scoring Myers. With the score down to 12-10, the Bulldogs grounded out and the Falcons held on to win.
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will host the Charlotte 49ers (6-10) to open C-USA play starting on Friday.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm on Friday, 2 pm on Saturday, and 11 am on Sunday.
All three games will be broadcast on CUSA.tv.
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