Louisiana Tech (8-4) defeated Northwestern (0-9) to complete their first-weekend series sweep of the season. Coach Burroughs and the Bulldogs were clearly fired up after the events of the second Ole Miss game and used that motivation to defend their home field.
GAME ONE | Bulldogs utilize powering hitting to crush the Wildcats.
WIN | Jonathan Fincher (2-1) LOSS | Michael Farinelli (0-3)
After Northwestern took an early 1-0, it was pretty much complete domination from Louisiana Tech. highlighted by booming four homers on the night.
The first Tech score of the night was an Ethan Bates two-run home run during the bottom of the 1st go giving the Diamond Dogs a 2-1 lead.
The Wildcats were able to briefly tie the game with a sacrifice fly, but Adarius Myers broke that very quickly, hitting his first home run of the year and providing Tech with a one-run lead.
Later in the contest with two on base, Dalton Davis connected on a single while scoring Brody Drost and Jorge Corona.
In the fourth, Ethan Bates came up clutch once again, singling in Logan McLeod, who would bat in two runs of his own in the next inning to extend the lead to 9-2.
Refusing to let off the gas, the Bulldogs added 4 more runs in the 6th inning. Philip Matulia initiated the strong inning, hitting his 6th homer of the year. The runs would continue to pour in via a Walker Burchfield two-run double as well as an Ethan Bates sacrifice fly.
In the 8th, Jeffrey Ince made his first hit as a Bulldog an extremely memorable one, hitting a solo home run to give the Bulldogs their 14th run of the game. Northwestern was able to find some offense late in the game, but Louisiana Tech concluded their night by winning 14-5.
Ethan Bates led the Bulldogs with 3 hits, followed by Adarius Myers and Jorge Corona who contributed two hits.
Jonathan Fincher pitched 7.0 innings and had a season-high 8 strikeouts in the contest.
Lane Burroughs after the game, “I thought we went up to Oxford and found an identity.”
GAME TWO | Tech rallies from 4 down to win in extra innings.
WIN | Ethan Bates (2-0) LOSS | Nolan Morr (0-1)
Trailing 4-0 in the 5th inning, the Diamond Dogs leaned on Colton Hegwood to bomb his first home run of the season, scoring Dalton Davis and providing the Bulldogs with life only down 2.
In the 6th, Jorge Corona would cut into the lead with an RBI single to make the score 4-3.
Finally, in the bottom of the 8th, Tech tied up the game with a Dalton Davis solo home run over the left field wall.
Neither team could break the tie for the rest of regulation, despite Tech threatening with runners on but unable to score. Landon Tomkins faced 11 straight Northwestern batters without giving up a single hit before Ethan Bates came in to seal the deal.
With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, Brody Drost got the ball rolling with a single and Ethan Bates put him on second with a walk.
Dalton Davis hit a game-winning single up the left field line to score in Drost and give Louisiana Tech a 5-4 comeback win as well as the series win.
Landon Tomkins and Ethan Bates gave the Diamond Dogs a combined 6 innings of scoreless pitching.
Lane Burroughs after the win, “It was a great win for our guys, a gritty, tough win.”
GAME THREE | Diamond Dogs comeback from 6 down, score 13 unanswered.
WIN | Alec Sparks (1-0) LOSS | Ethan Sund (0-1)
After being down 9-3 as early as the 2nd inning, the Bulldogs refused to throw in the towel and continued to fight.
Offensively, Tech was fueled by four hits and four RBIs from Philip Matulia, three hits and three RBIs from Logan McLeod, as well as a pair of RBIs from Adarius Myers, Dalton Davis, and Walker Burchfield.
In the bottom of the 3rd, Tech would even the score quickly, before eventually taking an 11-9 lead the following inning.
On the mound, Sunday starter Reed Smith was hit on his hand by a batted ball and left the game in the first inning.
Alec Sparks, Justin Williams, and Ryan Harland combined to pitch 7.2 scoreless innings.
Louisiana Tech connected on 14 hits and scored in every inning of the game besides the 7th.
Lane Burroughs after the win, “The offense was relentless today.”
UP NEXT
Louisiana Tech will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas to take on the #8 Arkansas Razorbacks (9-2) in a three-game weekend series beginning on Friday.
First pitch is scheduled for 3 pm on Friday, 2 pm on Saturday, and 1 pm on Sunday.
Games two and three will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
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