Boxscore

RUSTON, La. ? The second-largest crowd in Louisiana Tech baseball history braved the cold to watch the Bulldogs battle in a 4-2 loss to No. 4 Arkansas Friday night at J.C. Love Field.

Following the pregame Pig Roast Friday afternoon, 3,154 fans came to see Tech open its season in a what turned out to be a great pitchers duel.

Arkansas ace Nick Schmidt started on the hill for the Razorbacks, and Tech?s Luke Burnett got the starting nod in the season opener. Both struggled to find the strike zone early, walking an uncharacteristic amount of batters for each pitcher.

Schmidt walked five batters in 3.0 innings, and Burnett gave eight free passes in 3.2 innings.

Tech coach Wade Simoneaux said the fans were great to come out in the cold and that his players are the reason they came out in such numbers.

?I told our guys they earned this atmosphere,? Simoneaux said. ?The way they play the game and the way they work is why these fans come watch them play.?

Tech jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning after Schmidt walked Brandon Hudson and gave up a single to Albie Goulder. Schmidt hit Patrick Maxwell with a pitch to load the bases, and Hudson scored on a wild pitch. A bases loaded walk to Adam Cobb brought Goulder for the 2-0 lead.

Arkansas responded, however, with three runs of its own in the top of the third. A lead-off walk to Jake Dugger and a double by Sean Jones put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Burnett gave up all three runs with the bases loaded on two walks and a hit batsmen.

In the fourth inning, both pitching staffs got in the groove, and it became a battle to the end. Brian McLelland threw three innings in relief for Arkansas, and senior Andrew Alsup threw 5.1 innings in solid relief for Burnett. Simoneaux said he was proud of the effort Alsup gave with five strikeouts and no walks in his relief appearance.

Alsup did not allow a hit until the top of the ninth when Dugger led off with a home run. The homer gave Arkansas an insurance run and put the heat on Tech in the bottom of the inning.

The Bulldogs answered when Nick Grunenwald was hit by a pitch, and Jericho Jones singled. With two on and one out, Brian Rike grounded out to advance the runners to scoring position. Then, Hudson battled Jess Todd with two strikes before going down swinging to end the game.

Burnett (0-1) took the loss, and Schmidt (1-0) earned the win and was eligible for the victory because of the predetermined pitch count rule. Todd garnered his first save of the season for the Razorbacks.

Simoneaux said it was a hard fought game on both ends and is looking forward to the remainder of the series.

?We?re going to be a real good club,? Simoneaux said. ?The month of February is to learn our team, learn our pitching rotation and see which guys we?ll go to war with. I liked what I saw tonight.?

Tech will take on Arkansas in Game 2 of the series at 3 p.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on Cox Sports Television, marking Tech?s first home game broadcast on TV.