April 23, 2008

Box Score

RUSTON, La. - What better way to exorcise the demons that have been haunting a baseball program than to beat...well, the Demons.

Louisiana Tech got its best offensive output in nearly a month and held off a spirited Northwestern State rally as the Bulldogs snapped an 11-game losing streak by defeating the Demons, 12-10, at J.C. Love Field on Wednesday night.

"A win is a win," Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux said. "It wasn't pretty, but it's a win. Northwestern State is a quality ball club; they're leading their conference. And we played sloppy but still managed to win. We'll take them any way we can get them."

The Bulldogs (16-22) pounded out 18 hits - one shy of a season high - and took advantage of three errors by the Demons (21-18) to pull out its initial win of the month of April. Tech scored in every inning from the second through the sixth, including a six-run outburst in the second inning to erase an early 3-0 deficit. Amazingly, the first 10 Tech runs were all scored with two outs

Kevin Winn led the hit parade for Tech with a 4-for-5 effort, including three runs scored, two RBI and a pair of doubles. Jericho Jones was 3-for-5 with three RBI, and Matt Combs had a 3-for-4 night and three RBI of his own.

"It's a big difference with Kevin hitting in the eight-hole," Simoneaux said. "He'll get a lot more pitches to hit there than he will batting in the three-hole."

In a designated two-inning start, Andrew Lassere (1-2) was credited with the win despite giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits in his two innings. John Anderson and Jamey Bradshaw combined to throw shutout ball over the next three frames. Landon Braud and Alex Richard ran into some trouble in the sixth, giving up six runs between them, but Richard managed to hold off the Demons over the next two.

Alan Knotts picked up his first save of the season and only the second of his career as he retired the only batter he faced in the ninth, getting a double-play ball to end the game.

Northwestern State's Kyle Broughton (3-4) got the start, his third of the year, and was charged with the loss after surrendering six runs - all earned - in 1.2 innings. Four other NSU pitchers combined to give up six runs on 12 hits the rest of the way.

The Demons got on the board in the first inning, thanks in part to a throwing error by Lassere on a pickoff attempt at first that allowed Denney Choate to score from second and Mike Jaworski to advance to third. Jaworski would then score on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 early.

NSU would make it 3-0 after a base hit, an error, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly allowed Chase Lyles to score from third in the second inning.

But the Bulldog bats would come alive in the second after Chris Kersten struck out for the second out of the inning. A single by Thomas was followed by Winn's first double of the night to bring in Thomas and put Tech on the board at 3-1. On the very next pitch, Matt Combs ripped his third home run of the season over the left-field wall to tie the game at 3-3.

Not to be outdone, Adam Cobb took the first pitch he saw over the wall in right center for his seventh bomb of the season, giving Tech a 4-3 lead and its second pair of back-to-back home runs of the season. But it wouldn't end there. After Nick Grunenwald was hit by a pitch and stole second, Drew Bunting brought him in with a single to left and advanced to third on a throwing error. With Broughton now out of the game, Jones took the second pitch from Ben Rodriguez to the wall in right center for an RBI double, giving the Bulldogs a 6-3 lead.

"We were not going to give up that easily," Simoneaux said. "There will be no more tent-folding the rest of this year."

In the third inning, again with two outs, the Bulldogs loaded the bases on consecutive singles from Winn, Combs and Cobb. Grunenwald would get a base hit through the left side to bring in Winn, making it 7-3. But a fly out by Bunting would leave the bases loaded.

A Thomas double in the fourth - again with two outs - would bring in Jones from second base to give the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead. Tech would tack on two more two-out runs in the fifth on a Jones single to right, scoring Grunenwald and Cobb to make it 10-3.

But the wheels would nearly fall off in the sixth. Northwestern State scored six runs courtesy of an Anthony Jones home run and four more base hits to pull within a single score at 10-9.

Tech, however, would answer in short order. Another Winn double would score Thomas from first, and a Combs double brought in Winn to make it 12-9.

Aaron Lorio took the hill in the ninth looking for his second save of the season. But a walk, a wild pitch, two base hits and a sacrifice fly later, the Demons were within a pair at 12-10 and had the go-ahead run at the plate. Enter Alan Knotts, who fell victim to a passed ball on his first pitch, putting the tying run in scoring position. Then, with a 3-1 count - Knotts' third pitch of the at-bat - Dylan Libadisos hit a looping line drive into short left field that appeared to be the game-tying hit. But Grunenwald made the defensive play of the year thus far for Tech with an over-the-shoulder catch to retire Libadisos. With the runners having broken from their bases anticipating the ball to drop, Grunenwald fired the ball back to the infield, where Goulder was waiting to cut off a potential throw from an outfielder. Goulder then winged the ball to Winn at second for the double play, ending the game and the losing streak in spectacular fashion.

Tech now carries momentum and newfound confidence into this weekend's crucial WAC series with Hawaii, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday at J.C. Love Field in Ruston. Luke Burnett, fresh off his best performance of the season, will take the hill for the Bulldogs in Friday night's contest. Fans can catch all the action with Dave Nitz on ESPN 97.7 FM (online at www.espn977.com) or follow live stats through GameTracker at www.latechsports.com.