RUSTON | It had the setting, the actors, the tension … everything you'd want in a movie but a soundtrack.
The Kansas City Southern train rolled east to west, Louisiana Tech's
Jorge Corona stepped up to lead off the bottom of the eighth and, on a 3-2 pitch, his homerun cleared the 350 mark in right center to give the Bulldogs an insurance run and a 3-1 lead it would hold in the ninth for a win over old rival and 24
th-ranked Southern Miss before 1,950 on perfect night for baseball at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
It was just a midweek matchup, sure. But it had a marquee feel from start to finish.
Starter
Reed Smith, 2-3, gave up one run in five innings,
Ryan Harland retired all seven batters he faced (on just 29 pitches), and
Landon Tomkins got the final five outs and his third save of the season as Tech won its fourth game in a row.
That's Tech's longest win streak of the season, and just in the nick of time: Tech was mired in a troublesome 2-6 skid when the current win streak started in the weekend sweep of Florida International.
"We looked like a Top 25 team tonight, playing a Top 25 team that leads the Sun Belt," Tech coach
Lane Burroughs said. "Reed gave us a great start, Ryan was phenomenal and Landon earned the right to finish it. Both teams played extremely well … you can feel it on our side. We're starting to play with more confidence."
The Bulldogs are 20-18; Southern Miss is 22-13.
Smith, a junior righthander, began the second inning with two walks but then retired the next nine batters he faced and, through four innings, had allowed only one hit, a first-inning single. USM scored its only run off him in the fifth on two hits and a sacrifice fly.
Tech scored the first run of the game in the fourth off the Eagles' first reliever of the night, Colby Allen, on a single by
Brody Drost and an RBI double by Corona, the catcher's team-leading 11
th double of the season. The Bulldogs led 2-1 after five, answering USM's run in the top of the inning when
Walker Burchfield led off the frame with a homer to left, his fourth of the year and, like Corona, his second homer in consecutive games.
Both teams played errorless defense on a stingy night with The Love Shack wind blowing in.
Tech will take Wednesday off before a weights workout Thursday and a bus trip to Dallas for evening practice and, Friday at 6:30 p.m., the first of three games against Conference USA's Dallas Baptist.
Tech won't have to wait long to play Southern Miss again. The two are scheduled to meet up a week from Wednesday, April 26, at 6 p.m. in Hattiesburg.
UP NEXT
The Diamond Dogs will head west on I-20 for a three-game C-USA series against No. 18 Dallas Baptist that begins Friday, Apr. 21, at 6:30 p.m. in Dallas.
