Diamond Dogs complete weekend sweep of Rice

RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech baseball team secured a 6-4 win in game one, and a 7-3 triumph in game two in a Saturday twin bill over the Rice Owls. The Bulldogs clinched a series sweep with the pair of victories in front of a crowd of 2,006 from J.C. Love Field.

LA Tech (15-6, 3-0 C-USA) combined for 25 hits and 13 runs in Saturday’s sweep, while holding the Owls (9-13, 0-3 C-USA) to 13 combined hits and seven runs.

“I’m so proud of our guys,” head coach Lane Burroughs said. “It’s so hard to sweep anybody in a three-game set in college baseball, but our guys stayed with it all weekend. They showed toughness, perseverance and endurance. I’m proud them for hanging in there and finishing it off today. It’s a little different start to league play than we had last year, so hopefully we’ll build off this. We aren’t sneaking up on anybody now. We may have a lot of new players, but sweeping Rice will serve notice around the league, and teams will be ready for us.”

Senior shortstop Dalton Skelton was unconscious at the plate throughout the weekend, hitting .538 with two doubles, a triple and a home run. Skelton notched a team-high 14 bases through the series, while slugging a team-high 1.077. With a base hit in each game this weekend, he also extended his team-best hitting streak to 13 consecutive games.

As a team, Tech hit .365 for the weekend, paced by seven different Bulldogs notching four or more hits throughout the three-game set. Tech pitching held the Rice lineup to .189 batting average, while striking out 20 over three games.

With the sweep, Tech has now won nine of its last 12 meetings against the Owls, and improved to 10-2 at the friendly confines of J.C. Love Field this season.

Game 1 Recap
In game one, both starting pitchers were in control early. Both offenses were able to get baserunners, but were unable cross the first runs of the contest. However, in the top of the fourth, the Owls struck first off of Tech starter Logan Robbins, as Rice shortstop Ford Proctor launched a two-run blast to right for the first runs of the game.

Tech was able to get a run back in the bottom half of the inning after an RBI single from freshman Taylor Young. Rice was able to get the run back in the fifth after an RBI single from Trei Cruz.

The Tech offense found its groove in the sixth inning, as a Young one-out single chased Rice starter Kendal Jefferies, bringing in reliever Willy Amador. The right-hander began his appearance with a wild pitch and a nine-pitch walk to Tech catcher Jonathan Parker, who fouled off pitch after pitch until Amador missed for ball four. With two men on, Mason Robinson, Tech’s nine-hole hitter, decided it would be a perfect time for his first career home run. The right fielder crushed a no-doubter off the dorms in left, giving Tech its first lead of the game at 4-3.

“Mason has tremendous power,” Burroughs noted. “He got into that one pretty good and that woke us up and got us going. That was the shot that put us over the top there in that first game.”

Reliever Braxton Smith entered the game for Robbins in the seventh, and worked around a one-out single for a much-needed shutdown inning. In the bottom half of the frame, Tech added a pair to its lead after back-to-back doubles from Chris Clayton and Mason Mallard. Young then notched his second RBI of the game on a sac fly to right, deep enough to score Mallard, who had swiped third.

With the 6-4 lead, Smith was given the green light to finish off the three-inning save. The Orange, Texas, native worked an easy eighth, and escaped a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the ninth to lock down his second save of the season.

Robbins improved to 4-0 on the year, going 6.0 innings, while allowing three runs on four hits and striking out two. Amador was saddled with the loss, allowing four earned runs on five hits while walking two in 1.1 innings, dropping his record to 3-2.

Game 2 Recap
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, and the final game of the series, the Tech offense wasted no time in making an early statement to the Owls. In the bottom of the first inning, Wells worked a patient seven-pitch walk, and then stole second. Skelton, then saw 11 pitches off the Rice starter Nick Silber, before lacing an RBI-triple down the right field line, scoring Wells. Bates then brought home Skelton with an RBI groundout to second.

Facing a 2-0 deficit, Rice had an answer in the top of the second, utilizing a two-run home run from designated hitter Andrew Dunlap off Tech starter Logan Bailey, to even the score at one.

Both pitchers made it through the third unscathed before the Bulldogs took back the lead after a Mallard triple into the right-field corner scored Huddleston, who was on second via a leadoff double. But, the Owls once again had an answer, after a sac fly from Dominic Cox scored Chace Sarchet, who led off the frame with a double.

Tech would take the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth, after Huddleston smoked an RBI single into center, scoring Wells, who led the inning off with a walk. Mallard then reached on a fielder’s choice, but brought home Skelton for the second run of the inning.

With a two run lead, Bailey buckled down and gave Tech the shutdown inning it needed, working around a two-out walk to Proctor, and striking out Justin Collins swinging for an emotional third out.

Sophomore southpaw Kyle Griffen came in for Bailey in the seventh, and followed the recipe Smith had set in game one. Griffen kept all 13 Rice batters he saw off balance, striking out five and giving up a pair of hits, en route to a three-inning save – Tech’s second of the day.

Bailey earned the win, and improved to 3-1, while Rice reliever Garrett Gayle took the loss, giving up three earned runs over 2.2 innings pitched.

Young went 3-for-3 at the plate with a walk, while Skelton (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 R) Huddleston (3-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 R), and Mallard (2-for-5, 2 RBI, 1 R) also notched multiple-hit efforts.

Tech returns to action with a pair of midweek contests, taking on Northwestern State on the road on Tuesday night, and hosting ULM on Wednesday evening. The ‘Dogs return to C-USA play next weekend on the road at UAB.

All Tech home games are also streamed live on CUSA.tv (subscription required). Be sure to stay plugged into LATechSports.com, and follow @LATechBSB on Twitter for in-game updates and breaking news on the Diamond Dogs.