Louisiana Tech (27-29, 15-15) lost to UTSA (38-17, 21-8) in two out of three games to conclude the 2023 regular season. The Diamond Dogs turn their focus to the C-USA Tournament in Houston, where the Bulldogs seek to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
GAME ONE | UTSA outlasts Tech in an 11-inning shootout.
WIN | Simon Miller (8-1) LOSS | Ethan Bates (4-3)
It was an emotional evening on Thursday night, especially for senior Jonathan Fincher, who started his last game for Louisiana Tech in Ruston. As Fincher closes out his career with the Bulldogs, he will no doubt go down as one of the most accomplished Diamond Dogs in program history. Fincher lasted 3.2 innings, walked zero batters, threw 2 strikeouts, and allowed 8 earned runs.
On offense, the Bulldogs were hitting bombs all night and produced one of their highest-scoring games of the entire season, scoring 16 runs.
Dalton Davis has been scorching hot on offense lately and finished Thursday night with two home runs, a single, 4 runs scored, and 6 RBIs.
In his last series at the Love Shack, senior Philip Matulia started off Thursday night’s outing by electrifying the home crowd with a monumental grand slam in the 1st inning to give the Bulldogs a 5-2 lead over UTSA.
After the Roadrunners scored seven consecutive runs to take a 9-5 lead, Davis bombed his timely three-run home run to score Kyle Hasler and Logan McLeod to cut the lead to 9-8.
UTSA would once again extend the lead, this time to 13-8, when Davis delivered right on time once again with another three-run homer to score McLeod and Myers and narrow the deficit to 13-11.
Ethan Bates followed up Davis with a solo home run of his own, to get the Bulldogs within one in the 5th inning.
Trailing 14-12 in the 7th, Jorge Corona reached base on an error, while also scoring in Davis and once again cut the lead to one.
In the 8th, backup catcher Kyle Hasler stepped up with a huge RBI single to left field to score Adarius Myers and tie the ballgame at 14-14.
Once again, the Bulldogs were headed to extra innings on the weekend. UTSA jumped out to an 18-14 lead in the 11th on a solo home run, a two-run home run, and an RBI single.
The Bulldogs fought back in the bottom of the inning with Brody Drost drilling an RBI double to score Will Safford and Walker Burchfield hitting a sacrifice fly to score Bates. Louisiana Tech was unable to continue the run and fell to UTSA 18-16 in the 11th inning on Thursday night.
GAME TWO | Bulldogs limited to three hits, lose 5-3 to Roadrunners.
WIN | Ryan Ward (1-1) LOSS | Reed Smith (3-4)
After the firework show on Thursday night, Friday night’s game was a low-scoring pitching duel. The Bulldogs finished with only three hits coming from Dalton Davis, Philip Matulia, and Kyle Hasler.
UTSA took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning on a solo home run from Smith and another solo home run from Valdez.
The Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the 2nd when Hasler drilled a double into left field to score Matulia and Logan McLeod and tie the game at 2-2 early on.
With the game still tied in the top of the 5th, the Roadrunners struck again on a two-RBI single into center field to retake the lead at 4-2.
Trailing 4-2 in the 7th, Dalton Davis crushed a double into center field and scored McLeod to cut the deficit to 4-3.
In the top of the 9th, Smith bombed another solo home run for UTSA and gave the Roadrunners a two-run cushion once again. The Bulldogs were unable to make the comeback, losing 5-3 and confirming a series win for the visitors.
On the mound, Reed Smith gave Tech a quality start, lasting 4.2 innings, walking one batter, throwing 1 strikeout, and allowing 4 earned runs.
Ryan Harland kept the Bulldogs in the game during the middle to late innings, pitching 4.0 innings, walking one batter, throwing 2 strikeouts, and allowing just one earned run. Greg Martinez came in to get the last out for the Bulldogs and kept UTSA off the scoreboard.
GAME THREE | Diamond Dogs win regular-season finale, avoid sweep.
WIN | Landon Tomkins (6-1) LOSS | Ryan Beaird (4-2)
Senior Landon Tomkins got the start in his last game at the Love Shack, excelling with 5.1 innings pitched, 4 batters walked, 4 strikeouts, only one earned run, and most importantly the win. Tomkins did not allow the great UTSA offense to get a hit until the 6th inning.
The Roadrunners scored 2 runs in the 1st inning again, this time because of two errors by the Bulldogs’ infield.
In the bottom of the inning, Dalton Davis continued his hot streak, blasting another solo home run over the center field wall. Later in the inning, Adarius Myers knocked a single into right field to score Ethan Bates and tie the game at 2.
Senior Philip Matulia was another Bulldog playing his last game in Ruston, and he gave the fans a fitting memory. Matulia bombed a three-run homer over the center field wall to score Bates and Will Safford, giving Tech a 5-2 lead in the 2nd.
To the surprise of no one, Davis boomed another solo home run in the 4th inning, his 13th of the season, and extended the lead to 6-2.
UTSA scored a run on an RBI single in the 6th, but Louisiana Tech matched the Roadrunners in the 7th with Myers scoring on a wild pitch to take a 7-3 lead.
The Roadrunners added solo home runs in the 8th and 9th innings, but ultimately the Bulldogs were able to hold off the rally from the visiting team and win the series finale 7-5.
Ethan Bates earned his 10th save of the season for the Bulldogs on Saturday, lasting 1.2 innings, walking zero batters, throwing 2 strikeouts, and only allowing one earned run.
The Diamond Dogs finished the regular season with a 27-29 overall record, a 15-15 record in C-USA, a 19-13 record at home, and an 8-16 record on the road.
C-USA Tournament Seeding
1) DBU
2) UTSA
3) Charlotte
4) WKU
5) FAU
6) LA Tech
7) MTSU
8) Rice
Up Next
The Bulldogs travel to Houston, Texas for the 2023 C-USA Tournament with their season on the line. Louisiana Tech opens the double-elimination tournament with a showdown against the Charlotte 49ers on Wednesday morning. The 49ers are coming off a sweep against Middle Tennessee this past weekend.
Every game in the C-USA Tournament will be broadcast on ESPN+ except for the championship game, which will be broadcast on CBS Sports. Every Bulldogs game can be listened to on Sportstalk 97.7 FM.
First pitch is scheduled for 9 am on Wednesday morning. With a win, the Bulldogs will play at 12:30 pm on Thursday, with a loss they will play at 9 am on Thursday.
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