NEW ORLEANS – Right-handed pitcher
Ryan Jennings delivered his best outing as a Bulldog as Louisiana Tech's baseball team once again shut out Tulane on Saturday, clinching a series victory with a 4-0 win at Turchin Stadium.
A night after starter
Jonathan Fincher limited the Green Wave to one hit, Jennings completed another complete-game shutout for the Diamond Dogs (12-5) while allowing just two hits and striking out six opposing batters. The back-to-back shutout victories in New Orleans mark the second straight season the Bulldogs have notched shutouts in consecutive games.
LA Tech's pitching staff has allowed just one run over its past 36 innings on the mound, marking the first time since 1985 that the Bulldogs allowed just one run over a four-game stretch. The Bulldogs won four straight in April 1985 behind two shutouts of Ouachita Baptist, one shutout of Arkansas State and a 2-1 win over the Red Wolves.
"
Ryan Jennings was the man of the hour," head coach
Lane Burroughs said. "It just feels like Jennings keeps getting a little bit better each time.
"He wanted to finish, and the key to that was his velocity. He kept that the entire game.
Mike Silva is calling a great game, and I feel like we've had a really good plan coming down here in a tough place to play."
Jennings worked out of two high-pressure situations to complete the shutout. Right after Tech took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout from centerfielder
Parker Bates, the Green Wave tallied their first hit of the ballgame with an infield single from shortstop Collin Burns. Tulane (9-9) then loaded the bases with two outs after a walk by left fielder Ethan Groff. Bulldog left fielder
Manny Garcia helped Jennings get out of the jam with a nice catch in left field, tracking back to haul in a hard-hit ball from Simon Baumgardt.
With a 4-0 lead in the eighth, Jennings battled through another frame to keep the shutout alive. The right-hander stranded two Tulane runners in scoring position in the eighth inning when Jennings got Burns to fly out to centerfield.
Jennings faced the minimum in six of his nine innings on the mound, striking out three of his six batters swinging in the bottom of the fifth after the Bulldogs had just added their second run of the game. The New Braunfels, Texas native just completed his fifth start in a LA Tech uniform after missing the entire 2020 season with an elbow injury.
LA Tech struck first for its fourth straight game when Bates delivered an RBI groundout to the right side, bringing home second baseman
Taylor Young after a leadoff double earlier in the fourth inning. Two-hole hitter
Hunter Wells moved Young up to third on an infield single before Bates' RBI.
The Bulldogs doubled their lead one inning later behind another impressive display of two-out hitting. Shortstop
Alex Ray dropped in an RBI single to bring home catcher
Kyle Hasler to make it 2-0 Diamond Dogs in the fifth.
The Bulldogs once again did damage with two outs in the seventh, tallying a pair of runs to push the game to its final tally. LA Tech remained patient in the seventh inning, turning four Tulane walks into two Bulldog runs. After Wells drew a walk on a 3-1 pitch, Bates wasted no time when he smacked a double past the third baseman to bring home Hasler and Ray for a 4-0 lead.
Bates paced the Bulldogs at the plate with three RBI. Hasler turned both of his walks on the afternoon into runs scored, leading the Bulldogs with two.
LA Tech will go for the series sweep over the Green Wave on Sunday, sending reigning National Pitcher of the Week
Jarret Whorff to the mound in the series finale. First pitch at Turchin Stadium is set for 1 p.m. as the 'Dogs look to extend their Sunday record to a perfect 5-0.
