By Drew Parsley, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications; featured photo by Chase McGough
RUSTON — Sebastian Mexico played hero for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (19-12, 5-2 CUSA) in Friday’s series opener against the FIU Panthers (20-11, 4-3 CUSA), walking it off with a two-out two-run blast to give LA Tech a 5-3 victory.
Mexico’s walk-off homer is the first for the Bulldogs since Ethan Bates walked off Western Kentucky with a three-run jack in the series opener on May 10, 2024.
The Bulldogs entered Friday’s game just 1-11 when trailing after six innings, with the first win coming in a 9-8 extra-inning comeback victory to secure a four-game series sweep over Maine to open the season and are also now 2-0 in games that are tied after eight innings.
Logan Forsythe played a key role in keeping FIU’s offense at bay after the Panthers took a 3-2 lead in the third, tossing 5 2/3 innings allowing one unearned run on two hits and three walks while fanning six batters.
Luke Nichols delivered two big strikeouts in the eighth before allowing a baserunner on a hit-by-pitch. During the following at-bat, the Panther baserunner was picked off on a 1-3-6 play thanks to a throw to first by the Bulldog southpaw.
The ‘Dogs defense was ready from the start after the leadoff batter for FIU reached base on an error, Panther Brylan West singled up the middle while the lead runner Alex Ulloa rounded second to put himself 90 feet away from home. Garrison Berkley fired a rocket of a throw to Colton Coates at third in time to take away FIU’s first potential run-scoring opportunity.
At the turn of the inning, Tech loaded the bases to lead off the home half a pair of singles by Coates and Berkley before Michael Ballard drew a five-pitch walk. One a 1-1 count, Mexico plated the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center. FIU led off the second with a four-pitch walk followed by a one-out hit-by-pitch and a base hit through the left side to load the bases for the Panthers. A wild pitch tied the game before a second walk would load the bases again.
After a pitching change, another run would be walked in to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead before a pair of flyouts would send the Bulldogs back to the plate. Brody Drost led off with a walk then stole a base, allowing Will Safford to drive him in with a pulled base hit to right field and tie the game.
FIU would retake the lead in a 3-2 game after a pair of one-out errors in the third. After the top half of the inning, only one hit combined was recorded through the top of the fifth. The Bulldogs put a pair of runners on in the inning on a two-out walk drawn by Berkley followed by a base hit from Ballard but were unable to push anything across.
In the seventh, Safford led off with a hit-by-pitch on the first one thrown in the frame for FIU before moving to second on a one-out base hit from Berkley. Safford and Berkley both moved up 90 feet on a double steal before a groundout from Ballard would tie the game.
The Bulldogs put the go-ahead runner on in the eighth after an error by the Panthers’ third baseman, but FIU kept Tech in check. The Panthers led off the ninth with their go-ahead run reaching base on a single but Matt Houston, who had just entered the game prior to the start of the inning, caught the runner stealing on a play where Safford’s glove was just able to touch his helmet before his spike touched second base.
Blake Hooks picked up a clutch strikeout before getting a rolled-over ball to first for a groundout and give the ‘Dogs a chance to walk it off.
With the top of Tech’s order due up, Coates battled in his at-bat to a full count before ripping a single off of the FIU second baseman’s diving attempt through the middle of the infield. Berkley then advanced the winning run to scoring position on a sacrifice bunt before the Panthers would make a pitching change. Coates then advanced to third on a groundout, bringing Mexico to the plate.
With a lefty-versus-lefty matchup between Mexico and FIU southpaw Juan Villarreal, the Panthers’ reliever threw a front door slider to the designated hitter on the first pitch of the at-bat. Mexico pulled it out front to the right-center gap and just past the outfield wall to win the series opener.
Game 2 of the weekend series is scheduled for Saturday, April 5 at 12 p.m. CT, pushed up from an original 2 p.m. CT start due to expected inclement weather on Saturday.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs after Friday’s series-opening win:
“Where do you start in that game? That was a lot going on, especially in the last few innings. We went with Landon [Fontenot] to start, he was just going to open for us. We were hoping to get two or three [innings] out of him—we didn’t want him navigating their lineup more than once, maybe twice. Hats off to him for giving us his effort. Logan [Forsythe] gave us just what we needed—five-plus and kept throwing up zeroes. The ball was exploding out of his hands, and then he got the slider working and they had to honor that. [Luke] Nichols did a good job and obviously [Blake] Hooks, he hasn’t been out there in forever. There were so many big plays throughout the game—Safford and Berkley steal second and third, we get the groundout and get an RBI. Safford with the tag play on the steal [and] not to mention Matt Houston had just come in the game because we had to pinch run for Eli [Berch]. Just an unbelievable effort by him and Safford, and Colton getting on base and Berkley with a tremendous bunt, and then Mexico cutting through the wind, which I didn’t think anybody could do today, and walking it off. I thought Zeb Ruddell crushed two balls, one that got brought back, and I just didn’t think there was any way the ball was going to get through the wind. But Mexico got it done, that’s why he’s in the lineup. It was one of those days runs were going to be at a premium just because the wind was blowing in so hard. [FIU] lives and dies on power—they have a lot of home runs, a lot of guys with tremendous power. They crushed some balls too, they just didn’t go anywhere. Extremely proud of our guys for staying resilient throughout the game. You start throwing up zeroes and they stayed with it. Credit Logan Forsythe for giving us a chance and those guys for finding a way to get on base and get him over, and get it done there at the end. It was a huge win for us.”
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
