By Drew Parsley, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications; featured photo by Drew Parsley
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (13-9, 1-0 CUSA) downed the Sam Houston Bearkats (6-16, 0-1 CUSA) at Don Sanders Stadium in a 6-5 thriller Friday night. Grant Hubka earned his third win of the season, Trey Hawsey cranked his first career homer and Blake Hooksnotched his fifth save.
The Bulldogs jumped out early in the first inning after Cade Patterson and Garrison Berkley led the game off with back-to-back doubles to give Tech a 1-0 lead with no outs. Colton Coates later put runners on the corners with one out with a base hit before Sebastian Mexico doubled the ‘Dogs’ advantage to 2-0.
Sam Houston answered back with a leadoff double of their own followed by a base hit to the right-center gap to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 2-1. After a fly out and a runner caught stealing by Eli Berch gave the Bulldogs two outs, the Bearkats drew a walk and a double to put a pair of runners in scoring position. After a Bulldog mound visit, Sam Houston delivered a two-run knock to make it a 3-2 game and give the Bearkats their first lead of the game.
Brody Drost kept Tech’s offensive momentum rolling with a leadoff base hit in the second before Hawsey drew a walk. Will Safforddropped a sacrifice bunt to advance both runners 90 feet to give Patterson a chance to tie the game. The Bulldog outfielder delivered with a groundout to make it 3-3 going into the home half of the second.
Sam Houston retook the lead with a solo shot to lead off the bottom frame, but their advantage did not last as the Bulldogs tacked on two more runs in the third. After Michael Ballard reached via error and Coates ripped a single through the middle of the infield, Mexico belted a two-run triple on an 0-2 count to the right-center wall to give the ‘Dogs a lead that they would not let up for the remainder of the game.
Hawsey provided some insurance by belting his first career homer over 400 feet to dead center over the batter’s eye to lead off the fourth inning, and Tech’s defense would carry throughout the rest of the contest.
Sam Houston did not push across a run from the third to the seventh inning thanks to the work put in by the Bulldog pitching staff. Hubka got himself out of a jam in the fourth with back-to-back strikeouts after runners reached second and third on a walk, single and an error. A walk loaded the bases before a popup got Tech out of the frame unscathed.
After Hubka retired the Bearkats side in order in the fifth, Sam Houston applied pressure in the sixth by putting runners on first and second with one out after a fielding error and a bunt single. Following a mound visit, a Bearkat baserunner moved up to third on a wild pitch before the trailing runner stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position. With credit to Eli Berch for his defensive awareness, he cut a runner attempting to steal home short on a ball that got away from the Bulldog backstop to keep it at a 6-4 ball game. Sam Houston attempted a squeeze bunt to try and get a run across, but Tech held firm to get the runner out.
Sam Houston made it a one-run game in the eighth with a pinch-hit double on the batter’s first pitch of the at-bat after a single led off the inning to put a runner on base before the Bearkats put a runner on second on a fielder’s choice and a groundout. The Sam Houston pinch hitter blasted a ball to the left-center gap to push the base runner across and make it a 6-5 game with two outs, but another fielder’s choice turned it over to the final frame.
The Bearkats drew a walk to lead off the ninth before the runner advanced to second on a dropped third strike. A chopped base hit that went over the pitcher’s head fell into the glove of Ballard, who pump faked a throw to first which drew the advancing runner at third to drift off the base. Ballard saw a chance, and fired the ball across the infield to Coates at third to tag the runner returning before he could safely reach the bag. Following a chaotic scene at Don Sanders Stadium, Garrison Berkley caught a fly ball to seal the Conference USA opener for the Bulldogs.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs after opening up conference play with a victory:
“That was a wild one and a little too close for comfort. Where do you begin with that game? I thought Grant Hubka, second weekend in a row—we score in the first and then give it right back to them. But I’ll tell you something, I’ll credit Grant—after the third inning I thought [he was] outstanding. He made some big pitches when he had to, I mean huge. They had second and third with nobody out in the fourth, and he gets out of it without giving up a run. I thought he made some unbelievable pitches in high-leverage situations. I thought he was outstanding. Luke Nichols, I thought that was the best I’ve seen the ball come out of his hand in a long, long time. He looked like Luke Nichols of last year, that’s why he was First Team All-Conference and Preseason All-Conference. But I thought he was phenomenal, thought he made some big pitches. And obviously, Hooks—[I] decided to go with him in the eighth. I felt like we had to. I knew they’d pinch hit, but he is our closer. They were taking some good swings tonight. I said it before the ball game—it’s a new season when it’s league play. So, they feel like they have a new lease on life and don’t let their record fool you. But I’m very proud of our team. Obviously, the full arm fake play by Mike Ballard, I mean that’s just baseball IQ and probably won the game for us when we needed it most. A full arm fake, the guy made a big turn and we were able to get him out. It would’ve been first and third with one out, now it’s just a runner at first with two outs. Huge play there. I thought Will Safford—the play where Coates couldn’t see it with the ball in the air. It was really hard to see here for about three innings tonight for whatever reason. Safford stayed with it, made a huge play on that pop up. Cade Patterson gets into one and their guy brings it back and robs a home run. We should have been up 10-4 or whatever, but we weren’t. What a great play by their left fielder, though. I thought our offense was phenomenal. I thought we had great at-bat after great at-bat. I thought we hit the ball extremely hard, and we pretty much pressured them the entire night. A huge play too on Eli on the squeeze—that was a pivotal moment as well. In a game like this, every play is pivotal, but I thought we made a lot of great plays when we had to. We had some knucklehead baserunning situations tonight—we’re at third base [with] nobody out, we go down angle and I don’t know why. But we were able to overcome it. But Mexico was swinging the bat well, and it was good to see Hawsey get his first home run as well.”
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