Bulldogs tame Lions in midweek in-state battle at Ruston High

RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs piled on thirteen unanswered runs over the first five innings to defeat the Southeastern Louisiana Lions 14-3 in front of 785 at Ruston High School.

The triumph made the Bulldogs (11-6) a perfect 5-0 inside the friendly confines of Ruston High School. Kyle Crigger (1-1) picked up his first career win after tossing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

Parker Bates paced the Tech batters by going 4-for-5 with 4 RBI and was just a triple short of the cycle. Steele Netterville hit two three-run home runs to finish 2-for-4 with 6 RBI. Four of Netterville’s six dingers have come in the first inning.

The Bulldogs opened the game with five runs in the first inning. Taylor Young toughed out an HBP and Parker Bates singled to set up first and third for Netterville. The junior launched a moonshot to left-center field, his fifth home run of the year. Jorge Corona and Manny Garcia followed Netterville with singles and Seth White drove in two more runs with a line-drive up the middle.

Hunter Wells added on in the following inning. The redshirt-senior blasted his first home run of the season over the wall in center to give Tech a 6-0 advantage.

More insurance followed in the third inning. Three walks loaded the bases for Bates, who singled through the left side to drive in two more runs. The hit brought the senior’s RBI total to 26.

The total rose to 27 in the fifth inning when Bates doubled off the wall to score Young. Steele Netterville followed the double with a three-run home run to right-center field.

Bryce Fagan pitched well while the Bulldogs added runs to the scoreboard. The senior threw three scoreless innings while allowing two hits and striking out three.

The Lions tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Nick Ray homered to center field and Trevor Rugg singled home another run to get SLU on the board.

Bates continued to rake in the bottom of the frame, blasting his eighth home run of the year. The dinger put Tech up 14-2.

Southeastern added one more run before Jack Payne and Beau Billings entered and tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. The Texans struck out four Lions.

Up next, the Bulldogs open Conference USA play in Jackson, Miss. Tech takes on Middle Tennessee on Friday, March 13 at 6 p.m.

LINESCORE
Louisiana Tech 14, Southeastern 3 (Mar 10, 2020 at Ruston, La.)
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Southeastern ………. 000 002 100 – 3 12 1 (6-10)
Louisiana Tech ……. 512 051 00X – 14 13 0 (11-6)
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Pitchers: Southeastern – Bozosi, Corbin; Simanek, Justin (1); Rogers, Dalton (3); Dugas, Daniel (4); Aspholm, Dalton (5); Keeley, Ryan (6); Harrington, Trey (8) and Manola, Connor; Grizzaffi, Bryce. Louisiana Tech – Crigger, Kyle; Fagan, Bryce (3); Traweek, Seth (6); Payne, Jack (7); Billings, Beau (9) and Hasler, Kyle.

Win-Crigger (1-1) Loss-Bozosi (0-1) T-3:22 A-785
HR SLU – Ray, Nick (1).
HR LATECH – Hunter Wells (1); Parker Bates (8); Steele Netterville 2 (6).
Weather: Sunny, Warm
Dugas faced 4 batters in the 5th.