RUSTON – The weekend series between the Bulldogs (16-11, 3-2 CUSA) and the Kennesaw State Owls (11-16, 3-2 CUSA) is all even with a rubber match set for Sunday, March 30 at 12 p.m. CT. Kennesaw State won the first game, which was halted in the top of the fourth with one out on Friday due to inclement weather, 6-1 before the Diamond 'Dogs won Game 2 of the series, 7-3 on Saturday.
Play resumed for the series opener at 12 p.m. CT on Saturday with the second game starting at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Luke Cooley dominated in Tech's Game 2 victory, tossing eight scoreless frames before allowing two unearned runs in the ninth. He recorded 10 strikeouts, which is the most by a Bulldog since Ryan Jennings struck out 10 against Old Dominion on May 26, 2022. He also tossed the most scoreless innings since Cade Gibson tossed eight no-run frames against FIU on March 26, 2022.
The junior righty was also the first Bulldog with at least seven no-hit innings and no earned runs allowed since Tyler Follis did it against ULM on March 21, 2018.
Game 1
Friday's game started out with some overcast weather that looked prime for some rain to fall as the game went along, which led to the start time to be pushed up an hour from a 6 p.m. CT start to a 5 p.m. CT start. Kennesaw State opened the scoring in the first inning after a two-out infield base hit and a walk put a runner in scoring position, allowing the Owls to deliver with a base hit through the middle of the infield to take a 1-0 lead.
The 'Dogs were retired in order in the home half of the opening frame but came back to even the score after a pair of leadoff walks drawn by
Sebastian Mexico and
Trey Hawsey opened up the second.
Zeb Ruddell then doubled to right field to give Mexico a chance at scoring a run but was gunned down and a well-executed relay from the Kennesaw State defense cut Mexico down at home plate to maintain a 1-0 lead.
Eli Berch then stepped up to the plate and ripped an infield hit on the first pitch of his at-bat to score Ruddell and bring the game to a tie going into the third inning.
Once the game was through a scoreless third, a leadoff base hit by the Owls would be the last play before Friday's contest entered a rain delay in the top of the fourth that ultimately resulted in pausing the game until Saturday due to inclement weather being expected in the Ruston area for the remainder of the night.
Upon restarting on Saturday,
Luke Nichols became the new pitcher for Tech and ended the fourth with a pair of runners stranded in scoring position on a looking strikeout. The fifth inning saw just one total hit between the two teams before the Owls jumped ahead with a four-spot in the sixth.
A pair of base hits got the inning started for Kennesaw State before a sacrifice bunt moved both of those runners into scoring position. A walk on a 3-2 count loaded the bases before a hit-by-pitch would give the Owls the lead back before adding insurance on a two-run double and an RBI knock to give them a 5-1 lead going into the home half.
A solo shot capped off the series opener as the Bulldogs were unable to get anything else across for the remainder of the game.
Game 2
The second game of the series looked different than the series opener for Louisiana Tech's offense. After being held to just one run all of Game 1, the 'Dogs took to the scoreboard in the second inning of Game 2 to take an early 1-0 lead. Ruddell led off with a base hit on the first pitch he saw before moving around the bases on a wild pitch and a groundout to end up 90 feet from home plate.
Trey Hawsey then grounded out to first, allowing Ruddell to score.
No runs were scored in the third, fourth and fifth innings before LA Tech doubled their advantage to 2-0 in the sixth.
Colton Coates led off with a double to right field followed by
Garrison Berkley flying out to the left-center gap, allowing the Bulldog third baseman to advance.
Michael Ballard then delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to plate Coates.
The Bulldogs all but sealed it after posting five runs in the eighth to take a 7-0 lead with three outs left to get. All five runs scored in the inning came on two outs with the first of the frame coming across thanks to three-straight base hits from Mexico, Ruddell and
Eli Berch to push ahead to a 3-0 lead. Three-straight walks followed drawn by Hawsey,
Brody Drost and
Jake Smith tacked on two more runs before back-to-back wild pitches allowed another two runs to cross the plate.
Cooley, who had just finished up his eighth scoreless no-hit inning and notching his 10th strikeout of the game, came back out in the ninth in an attempt to make some Louisiana Tech baseball history by potentially throwing the first solo no-hitter since 1995. However, an error and a four-pitch walk given up in the final frame was enough for Tech's coaching staff to pull him from the game after hurling 135 pitches.
After the pitching change was made, a wild pitch allowed the two Kennesaw State baserunners to move into scoring position. An RBI groundout gave the Owls their first run of the game still with no hits for the opposing side up to this point. The succeeding at-bat saw the Owls get their first hit of the game with a hard line drive up the middle just passed a diving Ballard at second base to score their second run. A double to left-center closed the gap to 7-3 before
Blake Hooks entered the game to toss four pitches and get the final out to even the series.
The rubber match is scheduled for Sunday, March 30 at 12 p.m. CT at the Love Shack. Tune in to the game on ESPN+ to watch, or 97.7 FM and the LA Tech Athletics app to listen live.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs after Saturday's Game 2 victory:
"I'm extremely proud of our guys. I just told them I know I can be hard to play for—between games it was the ultimate challenge to them. We need to play good here, we have great fans. We sell out our season tickets, and they expect us to go out there and play hard. I thought Game 1 we just didn't play really well. I didn't think we played hard, I didn't think we competed, and that was the whole thing—you have to quit letting people come in here and push you around. We have history and tradition here now, and I thought
Luke Cooley answered the bell obviously. Reminded me last year—we were at Arizona, and we lost on Friday night, same thing [now]. I need my alphas to stand up, and
Luke Nichols went out and threw a gem. We ultimately lost that game, but it was reminiscent of that.
Luke Cooley goes out and he deals … he told us in the sixth inning he was tired. I just thought the swings he was getting—you can't take him out. He's getting outs and he wanted it. Unfortunately, the young man got on, and even on that it wasn't a good swing. You have to do right by the kid, he's got a lot of ball left to play in front of him and you can't leave him out there to die. But I tip my hat to him, that was the ultimate gem right there. We needed a good start in the worst way and I'm extremely proud of him. I thought our hitters late in game two really took some good swings. [Kennesaw State] brought the young man in—the freshman that has a great arm and he was up to 99 miles per hour, and I thought we took some good swings off of him. It's just good to see us play better, play harder. It was very, very disappointing in the first game and that was the challenge to the team. It's unacceptable to let people come in here and push you around—I don't care who you're playing. So that was a big win for us and very proud that they answered the bell."
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