Louisiana Tech (36-14, 22-8) earned a hard fought series victory over UTSA (22-24, 14-17) this weekend.
Let's take a look at how it all happened.
Game 1 | Three-run 7th inning propels UTSA to 7-5 win
Louisiana Tech battled in game one of the series but was unable to come away with a victory.
Trailing 4-2 in the 6th inning, Tech made its run.
Manny Garcia delivered an RBI single to LF to cut the Roadrunner lead to 4-3.
After Steele Netterville grounded into a double play to tie the game at 4, Cole McConnell doubled to right-center to drive in Parker Bates to give Tech its first lead at 5-4.
In the top half of the 7th inning the Bulldogs came unraveled on the mound.
Jonathan Fincher allowed the first two Roadrunners to reach before he was lifted for Landon Tomkins.
Tomkins walked two straight hitters, one which resulted in Jonathan Tapia crossing home plate to tie the game at 5.
Kyle Crigger would then enter after the two Tomkins walks for Tech.
Crigger would get a quick double play from Josh Lamb that would score another UTSA run to give them the lead back at 6-5.
With Ian Bailey at the plate, a wild pitch by Crigger allowed another run to come in and make it 7-5 UTSA.
Two Tech hitters would reach base in the 9th inning, but the Bulldogs were unable to score and dropped the opener of the series 7-5.
Jonathan Fincher (7-1) took his first loss of the season on the mound after allowing 6 earned runs in 6+ innings of work.
Offensively, McConnell lead the way with 3 hits and 2 RBI.
Game 2 | Jennings tosses gem in 4-1 Tech win
Ryan Jennings (5-3) was superb on the mound Saturday afternoon.
After allowing a 1st inning run on a wild pitch, Jennings would allow only 2 hits over the final 6 innings to earn his 5th win of the season.
All 4 of Tech's 4 runs came in the 4th inning.
Steele Netterville lead the inning off with an infield single to SS to get things going for the 'Dogs.
Phillip Matulia followed Netterville with a hit by pitch to give Tech runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.
Kyle Sonduck would balk, which allowed Netterville and Matulia to move up to 2nd and 3rd with no outs in the inning.
Jorge Corona would tie the game at 1 with a groundout out to SS; Matulia would advance to 3B on the play.
Alex Ray would reach on a fielder's choice after UTSA tried to come home on a groundball to 3B but were unable to nab Matulia at the plate.
Tech leads 2-1.
Taylor Young, Hunter Wells, and Parker Bates would follow with 3 consecutive singles to give Tech its 4-1 lead, which proved to be enough.
Offensively, Wells and Bates lead the 'Dogs with 2 hits and an RBI apiece.
Game 3 | Bates 3-run walk-off HR gives Tech 10-7 win
College baseball never disappoints.
With UTSA leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 5th inning, the Tech bats came to life.
Manny Garcia would drill an RBI-double down the LF line to tie the game at 4.
Following Garcia's 2B, Cole McConnell would single to drive in Garcia to make it 5-4 Bulldogs.
Steele Netterville would walk with the bases loaded later in the inning to stretch the Tech lead out to 6-4.
Jorge Corona would close out the scoring with an RBI groundout to give Tech a 7-4 lead.
In the top of the 7th inning, Cade Gibson was attempting to throw Tech's second complete game of the afternoon on the mound.
With two outs in the inning, Gibson allowed Dylan Rock to single which trimmed the lead to 7-5.
Lane Burroughs had seen enough, it was time for Kyle Crigger to close it out.
Not so fast, my friend.
College baseball never disappoints.
Buckle up.
Crigger would walk the first hitter he faced, Nick Thornquist, to load the bases.
Griffin Paxton would double down the left field line, but here's the catch, Alex Ray would make a perfect relay throw home to gun down Thornquist at the plate to keep the game tied at 7.
Whew.
After Tech was held scoreless in the bottom half of the 7th inning, we were headed to extra innings.
Landon Tomkins, Kyle Griffen, and Greg Martinez (4-0) combined to hold the Roadrunners scoreless in the 8th.
In the bottom half of the 8th inning, Taylor Young walked and Hunter Wells singled to open the frame.
Parker Bates then stepped to the plate.
Parker Bates.
On a 2-2 pitch Bates launched one to RF for a walk-off HR to give Tech a 10-7 win!!
In the win, Wells had 4 hits and Bates had 4 RBI. Bates was the HERO.
Game 4 | Tech offense explodes in 17-7 win to claim series victory
The Tech offense wasn't going to let this series get away from them Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs scored multiple runs in four of seven innings offensively.
With Tech trailing 7-5 in the 5th inning, Alex Ray, Taylor Young, Cole McConnell, Phillip Matulia, and Steele Netterville delivered RBIs to give Tech a 12-7 lead.
In the inning, Tech sent 12 hitters to the plate and scored 7 runs.
Leading 12-7 in the 7th inning, Tech would score 5 more run to 10-run rule the Roadrunners 17-7.
Hunter Wells delivered the walk-off 2-run 2B to seal it.
Landon Tomkins (3-2) earned the win after tossing 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Offensively, 6 Bulldogs collected multiple hits and 5 Bulldogs collected multiple RBI.
C-USA Standings
With the win on Sunday, Tech won the West Division of Conference USA. The Bulldogs will be the 2-seed in the Conference USA tournament that starts May 26th in Ruston.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will host ODU in a 2-game non-conference series Thursday and Friday of this upcoming week. First pitch is set for 6 PM Thursday night.
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