Final Stats

MONROE, La. - Taylor Love hit a three-run home run in the seventh as Louisiana Tech (19-19) held off a ninth-inning ULM (20-21) rally to defeat the Warhawks, 5-4, and sweep the season series Wednesday night at Warhawk Field in Monroe.

LA Tech's Austin Greer started on the mound and all but shut down ULM batters for the better part of seven innings, while holding the Warhawks to two runs on five hits, while retiring 15 straight batters from the second inning to the seventh. The Bulldogs led 5-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh thanks to Love's three-run homer, but ULM cut the lead to three with two runs in the bottom half of the inning after an inside-the-park home run by Nathan Pugh made it 5-2 LA Tech.

The Warhawks sent seven batters to the plate in the ninth, scoring two runs on a single by pinch hitter Brian Barefoot to put the game-tying and winning runs on first and second. With ULM threatening, a ground ball back to the mound gave LA Tech its second win over ULM this season and its 10th straight non-conference victory.

Greer (1-0) struck out five on his way to earning the win for the Bulldogs before Phil Maton came on in the seventh and held ULM scoreless in 1.2 innings. Adam Atkins (5) gave up two runs in the ninth, but buckled down to earn his fifth save of the season and close out the victory.

ULM's Brayden Bouchey (4-2) was charged with the loss after giving up a run on seven hits in five innings on the mound. Bouchey started for the Warhawks before Keegan Curtis came on to pitch the sixth and seventh innings, while allowing four LA Tech runs - three earned - on four hits. Logan Dopson pitched the final two innings for ULM and held the Bulldogs scoreless in two full innings.

Mason Paxton started a LA Tech rally in the third with a sharp single that just touched fair down the right field line before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Chandler Hall. At the top of the order, Bryce Stark followed up with a single through the right side to give the Bulldogs runners on the corners, but Paxton was gunned down at home shortly after on a first-third stolen base attempt.

LA Tech broke through in the fifth when Graham Ackal led off with a single to right, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Paxton before reached third on a fly ball to right by Hall. With two outs, the top of the order came up for Tech once again in Stark and Tech's leading hitter came through with an RBI single through the right side to put the Bulldogs up 1-0 over ULM.

After back-to-back ULM errors led to an unearned run for LA Tech in the sixth, Paxton walked before Colby Johnson reached on a single to bring up Love, who left the yard with a three-run home run to put the Bulldogs up 5-0 after seven innings.

The Bulldogs totaled 11 hits in the win compared to seven by the Warhawks, while both teams walked just one time each on the night. Stark, Johnson and Ackal each had two hits apiece for LA Tech, but it was Love that drove in the eventual game-winning runs with his home run in the seventh.

As for the Warhawks, Stawychny and Pugh each had two hits for ULM with Pugh totaling two runs batted in on his inside-the-park home run, while Barefoot's one hit drove in two runs for the Warhawks in the ninth.

LA Tech continues road play with a three-game Conference USA series at FIU, which begins at 6 p.m. CT Friday at FIU Baseball Stadium in Miami, Florida.

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