RUSTON, La. - A dominant performance from Connor Nation and Jorge Corona helped Louisiana Tech keep their conference title shot alive after picking up a victory against Liberty. No. 1 seed Louisiana Tech (44-16) delivered an 8-7 win against No. 5 Liberty. 

Liberty struck first with a three-run bomb from Noah Rabonin in the first inning, but Tech struck back following a three-run blast from Jorge Corona. The Miami native knocked in 47th career home run, putting him second all-time in career home runs at Louisiana Tech. Ethan Bates continued to produce runs as he batted in his 73rd RBI with a double down the right field line, putting Tech at a 4-3 in the second inning. Later in the third inning, Liberty fought back with a two-RBI double themselves, dimming Tech's lead to 5-4. Comeaux and Furr combined for RBIs in the third inning to lift Tech to a 7-4 lead in the third inning. Later, Michael Ballard earned an RBI after he reached on fielder's choice in the fourth inning, which allowed Ethan Bates to score, while Bates also scored on a wild pitch in the eighth as well. Liberty tried to rally in the ninth inning with a two-run home run to cut the game to one, but Bates would come in to secure his 17th save this season. Connor Nation would be the real hero of the day following his 4.0 innings of work with five punchouts, which both are season and career highs for him. 

QUOTABLES 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:

On the game…
"I am extremely proud of our team and our guys. The only way we know how to do it is the hard way it seems like. We made it interesting at the end. We got the runs, and we needed it. Ethan (Bates) had a big day. Connor Nation would be our player of the game. He was outstanding. A funny story about that. I was a college roommate with his dad, and we played together. The young man just wanted a chance out of junior college, and we gave it to him and all that he has done is continue to get better. He is a lot like Sam Broderson, he is up here all the time working on his craft. It is just amazing. We decided to send Ethan out to get the last three outs. The last three outs are the hardest though and he has the mentality that you have to have. Unfortunately, Kepley got the hits and the home run but thank goodness Ethan was able to get the final three. The main thing is getting ahead. We did not get a good start and they did not get a good start. They were getting advantage counts. You all saw that the ball is flying right now, especially to left field. Their guy made a great catch on the ball that Grant Comeaux. I missed all the pregame stuff, my middle daughter graduated from Tech earlier this morning, so I got here 30 minutes before the game started. Luckily the guys were ready to go. The whole thing is to get to Sunday. We expect to be there. We will start with Greg Martinez. Greg is a young man who started a regional game three years ago against North Carolina State. He has been in the battles. He pitched well the other night and it is all hands on deck because if you don't win, you're out of the tournament and if you win, you're in the championship. It is all about getting to Sunday. I am very proud of our guys and the way they came out and hit the ball today."

On Jorge Corona's home run…
"The crowd was into it. We got our crowd here and the fans were awesome. Right out of the gate, we gave up a three-run homer and it kind of took the winds out of our sails and everybody was like oh my gosh. For Jorge to come back and hit that three-run homer was huge. It got us right back in the ballgame and got the crowd into it. You knew it was going to be a high-scoring game by the way the wind was blowing and being in the loser's bracket of a conference tournament at the end of the week. You are in the back end of your bullpen and your high-leverage guys do not have a lot left in them. It will probably be the same way tonight you just have to outscore them. It was huge for Jorge and he is one of our seniors pulling us through this thing. It was a big moment in the game."

On Connor Nation and the relief pitchers…
"Connor was huge. Blake Hooks has a funky arm angle and was up to 96. He struggles with his command sometimes so when I handed him the ball, I told him to just throw strikes. His stuff is good enough with late action and late life if he is in the zone he can get people out. He sinks it and gets beneath barrels to induce ground balls. He did a great job getting the outs that he got but we felt like he pitched early this week, so it was time to make a move. Connor is going to throw strikes. When the ball is flying out of the park the freebies are what is going to kill you. Walks and the HBP are what get you. Solo home runs do not usually beat you. I thought Hooks was really good in his time and came in with a high-leverage situation."

UP NEXT
No. 1 Louisiana Tech and No. 5 Liberty will play in another must-win game at 7:30 PM with a shot at DBU in the CUSA Championship game on the line. 

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