Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Louisiana Tech secured its fourth consecutive Conference USA series victory over the weekend, taking two of three games from Liberty on the road before narrowly missing out on a sweep Sunday at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia.
The Diamond ’Dogs (31-22, 17-10 CUSA) opened the series with back-to-back wins of 9-3 and 9-6 before Liberty (36-16, 19-8) salvaged the finale with a 3-2 victory.
The series win improved Louisiana Tech to 10-2 all-time against the Flames and 6-0 at Liberty Baseball Stadium.
Tech opened the weekend Friday by scoring three runs in the third inning and never looking back in a 9-3 victory.
After the first six Bulldogs were retired in order, Wesley Scott drew a leadoff walk in the third before Casey McCoy and Colby Lunsford helped load the bases. Trey Hawsey drove in the game’s first run with an RBI groundout before Colton Coates added a two-run single to give Tech a 3-0 lead.
Liberty answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Bulldogs created separation in the sixth as Sebastian Mexico delivered a two-run single to extend the advantage to 5-2.
Tech added four insurance runs over the final two innings, including a two-run double by Matt Houston in the eighth and RBI singles from Hawsey and Eli Berch in the ninth.
Luke Nichols earned the win in relief while Thomas Allen tossed three scoreless innings for his fourth save of the season.
Coates, Mexico and Houston each drove in two runs while Coates, Hawsey and McCoy all recorded multiple hits. Houston extended his hitting streak to 10 games while Hawsey pushed his reached-base streak to 20 contests.
The Bulldogs clinched the series Saturday with another fast start in a 9-6 win.
Tech jumped ahead 3-0 in the opening inning behind RBI hits from Berch and Mexico before Houston capped the frame with an RBI ground-rule double.
The Bulldogs stretched the lead to 6-1 by the fifth inning as Mexico and Houston each added sacrifice flies.
Liberty rallied in the seventh with a grand slam to pull within 6-5, but Louisiana Tech answered immediately in the eighth.
Lunsford walked and Hawsey doubled before Berch delivered a two-run single to center. McCann Libby later added an RBI double off the left-field wall to push the lead back to four runs.
Hudson Rowan earned the win after allowing three runs over six innings while Riley Fisher picked up his team-leading fifth save.
Berch paced the Bulldogs offensively with his first four-hit game at Louisiana Tech while driving in three runs and scoring three times. Coates added three hits and scored three runs while Hawsey also collected a multi-hit performance.
Liberty avoided the sweep Sunday by holding Tech to six hits in a 3-2 victory.
The Flames scored two runs in the second inning and added another in the third to build a 3-0 advantage before the Bulldogs answered in the fifth.
Cade Patterson and McCoy opened the inning with singles before Lunsford drove in Patterson with a double off the left-center field wall. Hawsey followed with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Tech was unable to capitalize further as the tying run was stranded at third base. The Bulldogs managed only one more baserunner over the final four innings.
Lunsford led Louisiana Tech with three hits while Hawsey extended his reached-base streak to 22 games and Lunsford pushed his streak to 21. Berch’s 19-game reached-base streak ended with an 0-for-4 performance.
The Bulldogs return home this weekend to close out the regular season against Sam Houston at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
