Final Stats

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Louisiana Tech's bullpen was worn about as thin as possible Saturday night as Rice outlasted the Bulldogs in the latest installment of the series, 11-9, in another slugfest to eliminate LA Tech in the semifinals of the 2016 Conference USA Championship.

The Bulldogs closed out the tournament with a 40-18 overall record on the season with nine wins over Top 25-ranked teams this year. LA Tech will await Monday's NCAA Regional selection show to find out if the Bulldogs will be an at-large selection by the committee in this year's tournament.

LA Tech sent six pitchers to the mound in the second matchup between LA Tech and Rice on Saturday and the sixth meeting of the season, but it was the Owls who put up 11 runs on 14 hits to eliminate the Bulldogs from the tournament and advance to the championship game Sunday opposite Southern Miss.

Rice dealt the first blow of the game in the second when two lead-off singles led to a three-run home run by Dayne Wunderlich that put the Owls ahead, 3-0, early in the game.

In the bottom half of the second, a lead-off single by Raphael Gladu and walk for Cody Daigle set up Chandler Hall's clutch two-run double in the left-center gap as the Bulldogs quickly cut Rice's lead to one run. The scoring continued with a walk by Garrett Dodd, a fielder's choice, single by Jordan Washam and a steal home by Stark as LA Tech put up five runs for a 5-3 lead over Rice after two complete.

Rice countered once again with two runs in the top of the third thanks to a pair of base hits and two walks to make it a 5-5 game, but Mark Baughman came on to pitch and with one out and threw one pitch before inducing a 5-2-3 double play to limit the damage.

Rice centerfielder Ryan Chandler singled with one out in the fourth before going to second on a wild pitch and coming home to score on an RBI single by Ford Proctor to give the Owls a 6-5 lead over LA Tech.

The Owls broke open the game in the fifth by plating four runs after the inning began with a solo home run to left field by Grayson Lewis. Rice followed up with three more base hits to extend its lead to 10-5 over the Bulldogs after four and a half innings.

LA Tech got one run back in the bottom of the fifth after an error kept the inning alive and led to an RBI single by Brent Diaz to cut Rice's lead to 10-6.

Rice answered LA Tech's run with a solo home run by Connor Teykl to lead off the sixth to once again make it a five-run lead.

Rice held on to an 11-6 advantage until the bottom of the seventh when Lunceford reached on a walk before Cody Daigle hit his fourth home run of the tournament, a two-run shot to left field to cut the Owls' lead to 11-8 after seven innings of play.

Mark Baughman (1-1) was LA Tech's third pitcher of the game and was charged with the loss after allowing two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings. Rice's Glenn Otto (8-2) picked up the win for the Owls after pitching three innings and allowing one unearned run on just two hits. Dane Myers pitched the last 4.2 innings for Rice and earned his sixth save of the season despite allowing three run on five hits and two walks.

LA Tech totaled 10 hits in the game and was led by Gladu who was 3-for-5 at the plate with a run scored. Both Chandler Hall and Cody Daigle had one hit apiece and each drove in two runs. Garrett Dodd was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a walk.

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