By Drew Parsley, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications; featured photo by Josh McDaniel
RUSTON — Louisiana Tech (26-16, 11-5 CUSA) evened the weekend series with a 10-3 win over the Dallas Baptist Patriots (29-13, 12-5 CUSA) on Saturday at the Love Shack.
Saturday’s win marked the third time this year the Bulldogs picked up back-to-back games scoring double-digit runs and improve to an 11-1 record when scoring at least 10.
The Bulldog defense proved to be effective early in the opening frame after allowing a leadoff walk. Following a pop out to second, DBU hit a fly ball deep to the left center gap where a dashing Zeb Ruddell made a catch running into the wall. The sophomore left fielder gathered himself and fired the ball to Michael Ballard, who beat the returning runner with a throw to Trey Hawsey at first for the 7-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Sebastian Mexico stepped up to the plate in the home half to lead off for Tech for the first time this year. The designated hitter took the first strike before belting a long line drive over the right field wall to give the ‘Dogs an early 1-0 advantage.
Tech and DBU were deadlocked for the second and third innings before the Patriots would take their first lead of the afternoon in the fourth. A walk and a double put runners on second and third before a two-run knock past a diving second baseman put DBU out front.
The ‘Dogs answered back with three runs in the bottom half, all coming with two outs. After a pair of swinging strikeouts started the frame, Colton Coates drew a walk followed by Cade Patterson ripping a liner straight to the DBU second baseman over 100 miles per hour. The ball hit the ground just short of the fielder and took a hop over his head into the outfield, allowing Coates to advance to third.
Garrison Berkley ripped a base hit to the shortstop for an RBI knock and to tie the game before Matt Houston drove in a run after the DBU shortstop misplayed a liner to his glove. The next at-bat, Will Safford gave the ‘Dogs a two-run advantage with a base hit through the right side on the first pitch he saw.
Tech and DBU exchanged runs in the fifth after the Patriots tightened the score to a one-run deficit with an RBI knock before the Bulldogs loaded the bases on back-to-back singles and a hit by pitch. Coates then drew a walk to score a run and give Tech back its two-run lead.
The game was blown open when the ‘Dogs doubled their score in the sixth inning with a five-spot. Safford and Mexico led off with walks to put two runners on before Safford swiped his 12th stolen base of the year to put runners on the corners with no outs. Ballard poked a base hit to right to score the Bulldog shortstop and keep a runner in scoring position.
Follwing DBU making a pitching change, Hawsey stepped up to the plate and swung at a high fastball before crushing a hanging breaking ball over 440 feet to right field and put the ‘Dogs up by six with no outs in the frame. Cade Patterson then provided the insurance with a solo shot to right center and give the ‘Dogs a 10-3 lead going into the final third of the game.
Luke Nichols finished out the game for Tech after entering for starter Brooks Roberson in the top of the sixth with one out. The senior southpaw dealt a very efficient final 3 2/3 of the game, allowing no runs on just two hits with a pair of strikeouts and the final five batters for DBU being retired in order.
Brooks Roberson improves to a 5-1 record on the year after tossing 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on five hits, five walks and four strikeouts.
Hawsey and Ruddell are now tied for the team lead in homers with seven apiece, with Hawsey also becoming the second Bulldog this year to homer in three-straight games (Sebastian Mexico – Apr. 2 vs. UL-Lafayette, Apr. 4 & 5 vs. FIU). Mexico drove in his team-leading 33rd RBI and also currently leads Tech with a .331 average.
The rubber game is set for 1 p.m. CT on Sunday, April 27 at the Love Shack.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs after Saturday’s win:
“What a response after last night. Tough loss, the way we lost. That was the challenge to the team today—come out and respond. This game isn’t fair, and life isn’t fair. I thought we competed our tails off last night and came up on the bad end of it. Credit to DBU, they’ve got a great ball club. We showed up to the ballpark today with energy and they were ready to play. That’s what your concern as a head coach is—after a game like last night, how is your team going to show up? I thought our guys were great today. Obviously, not only winning the ball game but winning it going away. We needed a great start. Their bullpen was depleted, our bullpen was depleted after last night. Brooks gave us a tremendous start. I thought the matchup with him against DBU would be good because of his changeup and his slider. They’re physical and big and they take big swings, they try to drive the ball out of the park, and they do a lot. So, I thought the match up was good and he gave us all he could. He had a couple of long inning layoffs—we were scoring runs so that’s a good thing. Luke Nichols came in and he was Luke Nichols of old. It was what we expect out of him, and he was fantastic. I thought Zeb Ruddell’s play in the first inning in left field—you never know when the game is going to hang into balance, and there you go. Their best hitter [at the plate] and Zeb makes a great play. If that ball is down, they score a run and he’s probably at third and they’re in business. A huge play—not only the catch but to double the guy off [at first] set the tone of the game. Then Mexico got us going with the leadoff homer, and obviously Hawsey got into another one and Patterson had a big one. Just a huge effort by our guys. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Matt Houston, he called a great game. He called most of the pitches today and he was outstanding. We set ourselves up to win a series tomorrow, a big series.”
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