Louisiana Tech (10-10) lost 2 of 3 in a weekend series to the Charlotte 49ers this past weekend.
The Bulldogs will quickly shift their focus to ULM on Tuesday before traveling to Western Kentucky for their second C-USA series.
GAME ONE | Fincher, strong bullpen leads Bulldogs to a narrow 2-1 win.
WIN | Jonathan Fincher (2-1) LOSS | Wyatt Hudepohl (1-2)
On a frigid Friday night, Louisiana Tech's two early runs were all that was needed to defeat Charlotte 2-1 at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park to start Conference USA play. Outstanding pitching and defense took care of the rest.
Ethan Bates was the embodiment of each of those three skills: hitting, pitching, and defense.
In the top of the first for Charlotte, the defense came first as he made a sliding stop to his left at third base and threw over to second to get the force out to end the inning.
He followed that up by hitting a solo home run in his first at-bat to give LA Tech (10-8, 1-0 C-USA) an early 1-0 lead.
While the Bulldogs had a tiny 2-1 lead in the ninth inning, Bates did nothing but pitch straight gas, striking out, not one, not two, but three batters to earn his third save of the year.
In the meanwhile, LA Tech's Jonathan Fincher (3-2) took over on the mound. The moxie of the C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year was on display as he pitched 6.0 innings, giving up just one run (a Cam Fisher RBI single with two outs in the fifth) on five scattered hits and four strikeouts.
Between Fincher and Bates, Landon Tomkins served as a link, pitching 2.0 innings of scoreless baseball that featured two desperately needed double plays. (Speaking of defense, we also include Jonathan Hogart's web gem of the night, as he tracked down a ball down the right field line and made the diving grab, in the third inning.
Lane Burroughs after the game, “I thought this was the cleanest game we have played all year. We pitched extremely well. We competed our tails off at the home plate. And we played great defense. We turned some key double plays. The energy was good. I thought this was our best game we have played all year.”
GAME TWO | Diamond Dogs give up 22 hits and lose 14-6 to Charlotte.
WIN | Paxton Thompson (2-1) LOSS | Rawley Hector (1-3)
Louisiana Tech (10-9, 1-1 C-USA) had a promising first inning, highlighted by a scoreless top half from Rawley Hector (1-3) and a scorching Jonathan Hogart single homer to make it 1-0. But Charlotte (7-11, 1-0 C-USA) quickly answered, scoring four runs on a few hits and a passed ball, and they never really looked back. Three Bulldogs waiting beneath an infield popup that produced one of those hits and things snowballed from there.
Jorge Corona's two-run home run in the bottom of the second inning brought the home team closer, but Charlotte scored three more runs in the third, and the Tech bats then started to struggle.
During the game, the 49ers would collect 22 hits, scoring three runs in the top of the fifth to make the score 10-3 before Tech managed to rally thanks to yet another home run from Phillip Matulia, who continues to lead the team in long balls with 7.
At 10-5, a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning brought things a bit closer, but Charlotte managed to sneak one through in the top of the eighth and pile on three insurance runs in the ninth, when Tech was only able to score one on Corona's second home run, the game's fourth and final one.
The pitching for Louisiana Tech was inconsistent the entire game, particularly in the later innings when a few wild pitches added to the hits and runs allowed. In all, Tech used eight different pitchers in this contest.
GAME THREE | Bulldogs shut out by 49ers, lose weekend series.
WIN | Cameron Hansen (1-0) LOSS | Alec Sparks (0-1)
The first hit for LA Tech (10-10, 1-2 C-USA) didn't come until the bottom of the fifth inning. Although Alec Sparks (1-1) carried a 2-0 game into the top of the sixth inning, the Bulldogs and 49ers (8-11, 2-1 C-USA) maintained a close game throughout those five innings. It was here when Charlotte slugged multiple doubles and a home run to make it 7-0. The visitors scored a few more runs in the eighth and ninth innings, and hand Tech the conference series loss.
Tech would only score three hits, all singles by Jorge Corona, Adarius Myers, and Logan McLeod. In addition to his single, McLeod also drew two walks and was hit by a pitch to advance to second base in each of his at-bats.
The program "means something to" players like McLeod, according to head coach Lane Burroughs. Burroughs is searching for signs that this team's leaders will bear the burden of Louisiana Tech Baseball's previous successes.
"This thing took a toll on a lot of people when we were rebuilding it," Coach Burroughs said. "Right now, it's not in a good place. I've been coaching 27 years. I haven't felt like this too often in my career. So, we're going to figure out who this means something to."
The Bulldogs' collective weekend average of.180 represents the series' problems, according to Burroughs.
"We got a win, so I guess that's a positive. It's a bad vibe going, and we got to figure it out. We're going to come to work and keep practicing and keep working, and we'll figure it out. It's not going to be because we're not out here working, I can assure you."
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will travel to Monroe to take on the ULM Warhawks (7-14) in a midweek game on Tuesday night.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm on Tuesday night.
The game can be listened to on Sportstalk 97.7.
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