RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech showed late inning magic erasing a five-run deficit in the 7
th inning to take the series victory over Wichita State 9-6 at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs (2-0) caught a rally in the in seventh inning with a five-run frame, answering the Shockers (0-2) three-run top half.
Wade Elliott led off the seventh lining a double to deep center field.
Logan McLeod wasted no time as he drove in Elliott with an RBI single to right. The very next batter,
Taylor Young, drove a double down the left field line followed by a
Philip Matulia walk to load up the bases. McConnell was drilled by a pitch to cut the lead 6-3. A sac-fly from
Steele Netterville,
Walker Burchfield RBI groundout and a wild pitch scoring McConnell knotted the game up at 6-6.
LA Tech took the lead in the bottom of the eighth all with two outs. Young ripped his second double of the afternoon, Matulia then drove him in with an RBI single to take the lead 7-6. The following batter
Cole McConnell sent a two-run home run over the right-center field wall to give the Bulldogs some cushion.
The LA Tech bullpen did its job keeping the score tight. Relievers,
Jackson Lancaster,
Landon Tomkins and
Kyle Crigger all recorded crucial outs. Crigger shut the door throwing the final two innings, striking out 4.
Young, Matulia and Corona all had multi-hit games as McConnell led the squad in RBI with three.
QUOTABLES:
Head Coach
Lane Burroughs
"Can't say enough for hanging in there. I was frustrated, they were frustrated. Give their lefty (Payton Tolle) credit, first career start as a true freshman and he manipulated some bad swings on us. You look at a guy like Wade Elliot who had a tough night last night and he gets us going with a doubled to center field. That's the beauty of this game, you come back the next day and do it again."
"Very proud of Matulia and McConnell because twice late in the game they brought in a lefty to get them out. We go walk and hit-by-pitch and then a 2-out RBI single and a homer against a left-handed pitcher."
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs look to sweep the opening series of the season tomorrow afternoon against the Shockers at 1 p.m. at J.C. Love Field.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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