Long ball not enough as Bulldogs fall to hit-happy 49ers

RUSTON – Four home runs could not get Louisiana Tech out of a deep hole as their series with the Charlotte 49ers was evened in a 14-6 ball game on a chilly Saturday afternoon at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.

The first inning showed promise for Louisiana Tech (10-9, 1-1 C-USA) with a scoreless top half from Rawley Hector (1-3) and a bottom half punctuated by a blistering Jonathan Hogart solo shot to make it a 1-0 game. Charlotte (7-11, 1-1 C-USA) was quick to respond, however, using a couple hits and a passed ball to score four runs, and they never really looked back. One of those hits came on an infield popup that three Bulldogs waiting underneath failed to convert into an out.

The home team made it closer in the bottom of the second inning with a 2-RBI Jorge Corona blast, but Charlotte packed on three additional runs in the third, and then the Tech bats began to struggle.

The 49ers would amass 22 hits over the course of the game, scoring three in the top of the fifth to make it 10-3 before Tech got one back on yet another home run, this time from Phillip Matulia, who continues to lead the team in deep balls.

A sacrifice fly in the seventh made things a little interesting at 10-5, but Charlotte scratched one across in the top of the eighth and managed to pile on three insurance runs in the ninth, a time in which Tech was only able to score one on the fourth and final home run of the game-Corona’s second.

LA Tech pitching struggled throughout the game, especially late on; hits and runs given up were compounded by a few wild pitches. Overall, Tech put eight different pitchers on the mound in this game.

Head coach Lane Burroughs would like to see more consistent pitching that leads to more strikeouts.

“We got to have guys that attack the strike zone with some conviction,” Burroughs said. “Right now, we can’t punch anybody out. When you can’t strike people out and you play a team like this that does a good job with the walk and the strike zone and has some pop, you’re in trouble. You saw that happen today. Even our shutdown innings were stressful.”