RUSTON, La (KTVE/KARD) – A new day yields very different results for Louisiana Tech baseball as they storm back from four runs down and defeat BYU 8-6 in game one of a double header.
Seemingly it was out of nowhere, the Bulldog offense found its groove in the 7th inning. Cole McConnell started the inning with an infield single, just the fourth hit of the day for Louisiana Tech. It was evident during fall and spring camp that Dalton Davis had some power in his bat. That was on full display in the seventh inning Saturday afternoon as he got the Bulldogs back in the game, launching a two-run shot off the batter’s eye in center field. Immediately after, fan-favorite Philip Matulia brought the crowd to their feet again with a solo home run of his own as the Bulldogs went back-to-back.
Tech followed up their three-run seventh inning, by matching that in the eighth. It was started by a Logan McLeod hit by pitch and Brody Drost walk. Who else but Cole McConnell, lining a ball off the first baseman’s glove and into right field bringing home the tying run. A passed ball added the go-ahead run before Dalton Davis missed his second home run of the game by a foot driving in a third.
The day started ominously when starting pitcher Greg Martinez walked the first batter of the game on just five pitches. The leadoff base runner would prove to haunt the Bulldogs as with two outs, Cougars cleanup hitter Austin Deming laced a two-out single into right field to get the afternoon started.
For the second straight game, the Bulldogs had found themselves down early in the ballgame. That hole was made deeper as two batters later, Safea Mauai found the exact same hole between the first baseman Dalton Davis and second baseman Will Safford, driving in another run.
The Bulldogs were able to stop BYU’s run however as Philip Matulia got the ball rolling with a leadoff walk. After a failed pickoff attempt that scampered away from the first baseman and a flyout from Jorge Corona, Matulia found himself at third base with one out. On a two-strike pitch, Adarius Myers was able to fight one off and jam it into centerfield, getting the Bulldogs within a run.
That good feeling would not last very long, as in the next half-inning Martinez would walk the first batter leading to a battle with Deming, who got to him for an RBI single in the first inning. This time Deming found a barrel and turned around a two-strike pitch, depositing it over the “Love Shack” sign in left field to extend BYU’s lead to 4-1.
After two more singles, a walk, and another run, Martinez’s afternoon was done, lasting 2+ innings and giving up five earned runs on eight hits and three walks. Back-to-back disappointing outings from Bulldog starters to open the season.
Much like the first time BYU put multiple runs up, the Bulldogs were able to claw back, and it was the bat of Adarius Myers responsible again. After Cole McConnell was hit by a pitch to start the inning and Phil Matulia walked, Myers delivered again with two outs with a base hit into left field to cut the deficit to three.
Out of the bullpen, Alec Sparks provided some much-needed relief for the Bulldogs on the afternoon. Sparks was tasked with coming in with two on and no one out in the third inning and was able to escape without surrendering a run. He did work himself into trouble in the fourth by putting runners in scoring position but was able to work out of it. And finally, he worked a beautiful 1-2-3 fifth inning. Sparks tallied nine punchouts in just four innings of work.
Louisiana Tech will look to build off this win with Texas A&M transfer Rawley Hector will get the start for the Bulldogs in his first game with the team.
