CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Louisiana Tech takes the rubber match at Charlotte 8-3 Saturday afternoon at Hayes Stadium.
LA Tech (38-18, 20-10 C-USA) tops Charlotte (35-20, 17-13 C-USA) as six different Bulldogs record multi-hit games and
Jonathan Fincher earns the win in relief.
The Bulldog bats came out firing in the first inning scoring a seven spot. With the bases loaded
Cole McConnell drove in his 71
st run of the year on a groundout.
Walker Burchfield beat out a throw on a fielder's choice to bring in the second run and
Logan McLeod was hit-by-pitch to allow the Bulldogs to take a 3-0 lead. With the bases loaded and two down,
Wade Elliott launched a moonshot grand slam over the left center field wall. Elliott's fourth long ball of the year capped off the seven run first inning.
LA Tech plated one more in the second as
Jorge Corona brought home
Philip Matulia on a sacrifice fly.
In the third, the Bulldogs scored three more times on five hits with the big one coming off the bat of
Taylor Young. The senior shortstop belted his 10
th home run of the season bringing home all three in the inning.
Charlotte designated hitter David McCabe homered twice in this ball game. McCabe hit a three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh.
From the fourth inning until the sixth both teams were held scoreless. Fincher came on in relief as
Jarret Whorff ran into some in the third. Fincher worked 2.2 innings out of the bullpen holding the 49ers to no runs on just four hits with two strikeouts.
Corona added to his hot streak as he shot an RBI double into the gap with two down in the seventh.
Adarius Myers then singled on the infield and Corona came around to score on a throwing error. Lancaster added his third hit of the game to bring in the 14
th Bulldog run taking a 14-4 lead.
Greg Martinez tossed the final two innings in relief before the game called due to weather. The right-hander allowed just three hits and one run coming on a solo homer and he struck out one.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season with a 38-18 record going 20-10 in conference play.
With the 38
th win of the season, Bulldog head coach
Lane Burroughs has now reached the 200 win mark since becoming the LA Tech skipper.
NOTABLES
- Seven runs in the first inning marks the most this season
- Bulldogs earn the two seed for the conference tournament
- Elliott goes 2-for-3 with grand slam
- Young goes 2-for-5 with a three-run homer
- Young scores two more times; he remains the nation-leader and is two runs shy of his own single season record set at 83
- Corona racks up two more hits; goes 8-for-13 on the weekend
- Matulia goes 3-for-4 with two runs
- Lancaster goes 3-for-4 off the bench with a RBI
- With today's victory, Coach Burroughs is now at 200 all-time wins as the head coach at LA Tech
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Lane Burroughs
"I just met with the guys and I told them it has been a great journey so far. There is a lot of team whose seasons are over. Going 20-10 usually wins you a championship, but I am proud of our guys considering playing in the fourth toughest conference in the country. Not too shabby at all and the journey is not over. We won road series at UTSA, Old Dominion, Marshall and here in Charlotte which are really tough places."
"Our guys had to fight and show some toughness. We kind of got manhandled Thursday night. There have been plenty of times this year when we could have thrown up our hands. Even when it is 14-5 it still feels close with those guys because they can really hit. But I am very proud of these guys for finishing the season the way they did."
UP NEXT
LA Tech will head down to Hattiesburg to begin the C-USA Tournament on Wednesday to face off with Charlotte once again. Game time TBA.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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