MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – A pair of solo home runs proved to be the difference as No. 16 LA Tech secured its fourth straight road series victory with a doubleheader sweep of Middle Tennessee at Reese Smith Jr. Field. The Bulldogs have won nine straight games away from Ruston, which is their longest road winning streak in program history.
 
Louisiana Tech (31-11, 17-6 C-USA) swept the doubleheader with a pair of one-run victories, moving to 8-1 on the season in games decided by a single run. A dominant pitching performance from Ryan Jennings and a solo home run from right fielder Philip Matulia helped the Bulldogs shut out the Blue Raiders 1-0 in game one, marking Tech's NCAA-best eighth shutout of the season.
 
Another solo home run, this time from leadoff batter Taylor Young, broke a 4-4 tie in the top of the seventh to help the Diamond Dogs defeat the Blue Raiders 5-4 in game two. Young's solo home run off Middle Tennessee bullpen ace David Zoz handed the left-hander his first loss of the season. Zoz entered Saturday's contest 6-0 with a 1.41 ERA and five saves.
 
Head coach Lane Burroughs notched wins No. 150 and No. 151 as the Bulldogs' skipper. Burroughs' team is now 10-1 in road C-USA contests in 2021, winning 14 of their past 15 road games away from J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
 
Tech will go for the series sweep over Middle Tennessee (21-20-1, 10-12-1 C-USA) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Right-hander Jarret Whorff will take the mound for the Bulldogs in the series finale.
 
Game 1 Recap: No. 16 LA Tech 1, Middle Tennessee 0
 
Right-hander Ryan Jennings recorded his second complete-game shutout of the season in LA Tech's 1-0 victory over Middle Tennessee in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. Jennings, who allowed just two hits over nine frames at Tulane in March, allowed just five hits and one walk over seven innings to notch LA Tech's eighth shutout of 2021, the most in the NCAA this season.
 
Jennings faced four batters or fewer in six of his seven innings on the mound, striking out six Blue Raiders to pick up his fourth pitching victory. The New Braunfels, Texas native sat down the side in order to close out the final inning of the ballgame, striking out pinch hitter Jacob Williams on three pitches.
 
The right-hander has hit his stride over the past three conference starts, pitching 20.2 innings while striking out 22 batters and allowing just three walks. Jennings has gone seven innings in back-to-back starts for the Bulldogs.
 
"What you saw today is what I saw the previous fall and last year before his injury," head coach Lane Burroughs said. "He's hitting his stride and is throwing the ball better than anybody on our staff right now. 

"I couldn't be more proud of him today."
 
Right fielder Philip Matulia provided the sole run of the ballgame, hammering a solo home run to right field to lead off the third inning. Matulia's solo shot was Tech's first hit of the afternoon against Middle Tennessee starter Aaron Brown, who struck out seven batters and limited the Bulldogs to six hits in the pitcher's duel.
 
After allowing seven stolen bases in the series opener, the Bulldogs shut down Middle Tennessee's running game in Saturday's doubleheader opener. Catcher Jorge Corona threw out two Blue Raiders at second base to catch the home team stealing twice in game one. Jennings then stepped off the mound in the sixth inning and fired to second baseman Taylor Young at second to catch the Blue Raiders stealing for the third and final time in the seven-inning contest.
 
Young, who entered the game with a 22-game reached-base streak, notched his team-leading 29^th walk of the season to extend his streak to 23 games. Centerfielder Parker Bates and Matulia each tallied two-hit performances in the triumph.

Game 2 Recap: No. 16 LA Tech 5, Middle Tennessee 4
 
After not trailing the Blue Raiders for the first 16 innings of the series, Middle Tennessee's offense got off to a fast start in game two, tallying a run on the board in the first and second to build an early 2-0 lead.
 
In the fourth inning, it looked like Middle Tennessee starting pitcher Peyton Wigginton was going to hold the Bulldogs scoreless once again after quickly retiring the first two batters of the inning. Designated hitter Steele Netterville hustled down the line on his ground ball to third base, helping force a wide throw from third baseman Brett Coker to reach via an error. Coker's throw also allowed Netterville to advance 90 feet to second base, putting a runner in scoring position for left fielder Cole McConnell.
 
Three straight two-out hits followed Netterville's at-bat. McConnell opened the rally with a single up the middle, plating Netterville from second to trim Middle Tennessee's lead to 2-1. Catcher Jorge Corona then needed just two pitches to tie the game, dropping in a double down the right-field line to bring home McConnell all the way from first. McConnell leaped toward home plate and slid in safely underneath a tag from catcher Jake Hagenow to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Philip Matulia then gave the Bulldogs the lead the next pitch, singling to center field to make it 3-2 Diamond Dogs. Bulldog starting pitcher Cade Gibson then worked out of a jam in the bottom half of the inning to keep Tech in the lead. With runners on second and third with just one out, Gibson struck out back-to-back batters to leave both runners stranded. Gibson struck out Bryce Symlar swinging, letting out a roar and pounding his glove as he trotted off the mound back to the Bulldog dugout.
 
Right-hander Tyler Follis worked a scoreless inning of relief in the fifth, erasing a leadoff single off Gibson with a 6-4-3 ground-ball double play to retire the first two Blue Raiders in the frame. Another ground ball then ended the fifth at Reese Smith Jr. Field.
 
Designated hitter Steele Netterville then crushed a solo home run to left field in the sixth, pushing Tech's lead to two runs at 4-2. Netterville's blast came on the first pitch of his at-bat.
 
Middle Tennessee first baseman Daniel Freeman, who has tallied both of the home team's homers in the series, once again did damage with a two-out, two-RBI single on a 3-2 count to tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Blue Raiders brought in their bullpen ace, left-hander David Zoz, in the top of the seventh to face Tech's eighth, ninth and first batters in the batting order. Zoz needed just three pitches to put two out in the seventh, but leadoff batter Taylor Young refused to go quietly with two away. Young fell behind 1-2 to Zoz after fouling off a pitch, but the second baseman fouled off another pitch and watched a ball to even the count at 2-2.
 
On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Young delivered the go-ahead home run to left field, evading the rising glove of left fielder Hunter Sullivan to put the Bulldogs ahead 5-4. Right-hander Landon Tomkins, who entered the game in the bottom of the sixth, bounced back in the final frame to move to 2-1 on the season.
 
Young's solo homer extended his reached-base streak to 24 games, which is tied for the longest streak a Bulldog has strung together this season. Corona paced the Bulldogs with two hits in game two.
 
Gibson allowed just two earned runs and struck out four batters without allowing a walk in his eighth start of the season.