Louisiana Tech (16-16, 6-6) defeated Rice (15-17, 6-6) in two of three games this past weekend to clinch a much-needed series win over the Owls.
GAME ONE | Bulldogs edge out Owls in 9th, defeat Rice 6-4.
WIN | Landon Tomkins (4-0) LOSS | Jack Ben-Shoshan (2-2)
Pushing through the weather delays and bouncing back from Tuesday’s devastating loss, the Diamond Dogs did not let the circumstances sink them and defeated a tough Rice team 6-4.
Jonathan Fincher got the start for Louisiana Tech on Friday night, lasting 6.0 innings, throwing 6 strikeouts, and allowing 3 earned runs. The Bulldogs improved to 4-0 in C-USA series openers, all games that Fincher has started.
Louisiana Tech attacked Rice early, scoring 2 runs in the 1st inning started off by Dalton Davis scoring Ethan Bates on a sacrifice fly. Later in the inning, Adarius Myers batted in Philip Matulia to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead to close out the 1st.
Rice would tie the game in the 2nd on a walk, triple, and single against Fincher. The ballgame was tied until the bottom of the 4th when Rice took a 3-2 lead on a solo home run.
In the top of the 7th, Houston native Philip Matulia stepped up and hit his 12th homer of the season to tie the game at 3-3 in Houston.
Still tied at 3 in the top of 8th, Brody Drost drilled a moonshot over the scoreboard in right field to give Tech a 4-3 lead over Rice. The Owls would come right back however and even the game once again with a homer of their own.
With the game tied 4-4 in the top of the 9th, Davis secured a hit over 3rd base to score in Will Safford and give the Bulldogs a 5-4 lead. Shortly after, Jorge Corona hit a pop fly that was misread by the Rice left fielder, allowing Matulia to score and extend the lead to 6-4.
In the bottom of the 9th, Ethan Bates shut the door on the Owls, earning his 6th save of the year as well as giving the Bulldogs a 6-4 win and a 1-0 lead in the series.
GAME TWO | Bulldogs hold off late Owls rally, secure series with 5-4 win.
WIN | Alec Sparks (3-1) LOSS | J.D. McCracken (1-2)
In the first of two games apart of the 7th inning Saturday doubleheader, Brody Drost boomed his second homer of the series in the bottom of the 2nd before Rice answered right back with a solo homer of their own.
The score remained 1-1 until the top of the 5th when Tech rattled off a 4-run inning. Logan McLeod started it off for the Diamond Dogs with a single, Ethan Bates walked, and Philip Matulia was hit by a pitch to bring up Dalton Davis with the bases loaded.
Davis hit a single to right field, scored McLeod on an RBI single, and gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead over the Owls. Jorge Corona would follow up with a massive double to increase the lead, and Drost popped up a sacrifice fly to score Davis and close the inning with a 5-1 lead.
Alec Sparks got the start on the mound, lasting 5.2 innings, throwing 7 strikeouts, and only allowing one earned run. Landon Tomkins came in to relieve Sparks, but the Bulldogs suffered a few errors in the bottom of the 7th to allow Rice to draw closer.
Ethan Bates came in with one out in the bottom of the 7th and was able to hold off Rice to earn his 7th save of the season and a series-clinching 5-4 win for Louisiana Tech.
GAME THREE | Diamond Dogs held to 2 hits, lose the final game to Rice 4-0.
WIN | Cristian Cienfuegos (2-0) LOSS | Greg Martinez (0-2)
Rice shut down in the second game of the Saturday doubleheader and took an early lead in the 1st.
Most of the damage was done in the bottom of the 6th after both teams had blanked each other since the one-run first inning for Rice.
In the 6th, Louisiana Tech allowed four walks and two singles off of the Bulldogs’ bullpen. The Owls put up 3 runs on the board in the low-scoring finale on Saturday, but the Diamond Dogs had one more chance to even the score.
The Bulldogs would not go down without a fight in the top of the 7th, getting runners on bases with a walk, a batter hit by pitch, and a clutch single from Adarius Myers to load the bases and bring Walker Burchfield to the plate as the tying run. Burchfield battled hard but was struck out ending a potential Tech rally and giving the Owls a 4-0 victory.
Greg Martinez got the start for the Bulldogs in the second game on Saturday, lasting 4.1 innings, throwing 5 strikeouts, and allowing one earned run.
C-USA Standings
1) UTSA (9-2)
2) DBU (9-3)
3) MTSU (8-4)
4) FAU (7-5)
5) Charlotte (6-5)
6) LA Tech (6-6)
Up Next
On Tuesday, Louisiana Tech travels to Lafayette to play ULL (23-9, 9-3) and returns home on Wednesday to host a rematch versus ULM (12-20, 3-8).
First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
The game at ULL will be broadcast on ESPN+ while the game against ULM will be broadcast on CUSA.tv. Both games can be listened to on Sportstalk 97.7 FM.
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