Tech pitching shines in opening day sweep over Lions, Cajuns

Bulldog Pitching Shines in Opening Day Sweep

LAFAYETTE, La. – The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs followed a one-hitter with a shutout in an Opening Day sweep of UL-Lafayette and Southeastern Louisiana.

Two Diamond Dogs combined for Tech’s first one-hitter since 2011 in a 2-1 victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns, and three combined for the shutout in a 2-0 triumph over the Lions.

“I’m very proud of our team. We made some mistakes, but we beat two really good ballclubs on Opening Day,” said Tech head coach Lane Burroughs. “There were some jitters and we left some runs out there, but guys like Parker Bates stepped up with some tremendous at-bats when we needed them to.”

Game 1: Louisiana Tech 2, UL-Lafayette 1
Jonathan Fincher and Kyle Crigger combined for the one-hitter to lead the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs to a 2-1 victory in the first game of the day.

Fincher tossed six innings in his first career start. He allowed just one run on one hit with two strikeouts and two walks. The redshirt-sophomore faced the minimum in four of his six innings.

Crigger entered in the seventh inning with a 2-1 lead and little margin for error. The junior didn’t need one. He struck out six on the final nine batters, earning the save with three perfect frames.

The one-hitter was Tech’s first since 2011 when four Bulldogs held Grambling to just a single base knock in a 13-0 win over Grambling State.

The Bulldogs opened the scoring in the top of the third inning. Alex Ray sliced a double down the right field line before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt. Hunter Wells followed the bunt with a line drive single to center, scoring Ray.

ULL answered in the bottom of the fourth when Hayden Cantrelle hit a solo home run out to left field. An error from Ray and subsequent walk put a two men on, but Fincher escaped further damage by inducing a flyout.

Parker Bates drove in the go-ahead run just a half-inning later. The senior rocketed a line drive to left-center field, scoring Ray from third. He finished 3-for-4 against the Ragin Cajuns.

Ray and Cole McConnell picked up two hits apiece in their Tech debuts. Jorge Corona went 1-for-4 with excellent defense behind the plate.

Game 2: Louisiana Tech 2, Southeastern La. 0
In an Opening Day defined by firsts for a young Bulldog squad, no player had a bigger one than Adarius Myers. The redshirt-freshman lined his first collegiate hit into right field in the bottom of the eighth inning to clinch the win over Southeastern.

Myers go-ahead single came after the Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs. Bates worked a nine-pitch walk before Ben Brantley was hit with a pitch. After a passed ball and groundout, SLU elected to intentionally walk Cole McConnell in favor of pitching to Myers. The Mississippi-native’s single brought Bates and Brantley in to score.

Beau Billings made the lead stand up in the top of the ninth. The sophomore set the Lions down in order to earn his first career save.

Kyle Griffen and Tyler Follis put the Bulldogs in a position with eight shutout innings preceding the go-ahead hit. Follis tossed five innings, striking out six while allowing just four hits. Griffen punched out two batters and gave up two hits in his three innings of work.

Louisiana Tech returns to action on Sunday when they take on UL-Lafayette at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast on KNBB 97.7 FM and the LA Tech Athletics app with Dave Nitz calling the action.

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