Texas defeats Louisiana Tech in hotly-contested Austin Regional matchup

BOX SCORE

AUSTIN, Texas — Saturday night in toasty central Texas, the bottom of the seventh inning was seventh heaven for Texas and a nightmare for Louisiana Tech.

The Longhorns scored three runs in the frame and went on to a 5-2 victory in a matchup of Friday’s winning teams in the NCAA Austin Regional at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

Tech (43-20) and Air Force (31-28) will play an elimination game Sunday at 1 p.m.; the winner will face Texas (44-19) at 7 p.m.

The if-necessary game would be Monday at 2 p.m.

Air Force beat Dallas Baptist, 5-1, in Saturday’s early game to eliminate the Patriots, 34-24-1. Tech beat DBU, 12-5, in Friday’s opening round.

The combative Tech-Texas game was tied 1-1 going into the seventh. At that point Tech had outhit the Longhorns, 10-3, but had left 12 men on base. Texas had left seven.

The 8,502 fans present, a collegiate record for the ballpark, had been mostly at ease. That changed in the bottom of the seventh.

With one out, Texas built a 4-1 lead as the ‘Horns strung together five singles and a double off closer Kyle Crigger (6-3), who started the inning in relief of starter Ryan Jennings, who threw a fearless six innings.

“Haven’t seen that all year,” Tech coach Lane Burroughs said of the treatment of Criggers, who turned 23 Saturday. “I’m not sure if he was tipping his pitches or what. They laid off some really good change-ups and made some good swings on some sliders.”

That proved to be the difference, along with Tech’s lack of timely hitting.

The Bulldogs had won 10 of their last 12 games and averaged 8.8 runs a game during that stretch. But there was no luck in Tech’s 13 hits or 13 runners stranded.

“We just couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it, and they did,” Burroughs said. “That’s a good team over there. We had some innings set up, but credit their guys (Texas starter Lucas Gordon, one run allowed in 5.1 innings, and reliever Tristan Stevens, one run in 3.2). We’ve got to get the big hit like they did.”

The Bulldogs left two runners on in the first, second, third, sixth and seventh and one runner on in the others before going down in order in the ninth.

Baseball is a fickle game. Last year on this date, Tech opened the Ruston Regional with an 18-2 victory over Rider. Hunter Wells tied a Bulldog single-game record with nine RBIs and had 12 total bases, two homeruns and two doubles that night. Just one of those hits Saturday might have made the difference.

Saturday’s game was fierce from the start on a warm evening in Austin. Jennings hit two batters in the first and one in the second — all right-handed hitters and two who crowded the plate. One hit batter was on a 2-2 pitch in the first, another was against the Longhorns’ nine-hole hitter with two outs in the second — neither advantageous for Tech — which is why Burroughs took exception when a warning was issued. The game was stopped for a couple of minutes and the umpires convened.

“I don’t know what the ruckus was about, really,” Burroughs said. “This is Texas; you’ve got to pitch inside. Otherwise we should just set it on a tee for them and go home.”

Texas had a program-record 144 home runs coming into the Regional.

Jennings, the senior righty from New Braunfels, Texas gave up a solo homer in the second, three hits, struck out five, walked three and hit three batters in 98 pitches. When he left the game, he stayed on the dugout’s top step to cheer on his team.

“We just got beat by a really good team,” Burroughs said. “But we’ll be back tomorrow; we aren’t going anywhere. You know what these players mean to me, to my family, to my life, to my career. We don’t want it to end. We’ll show up and play with everything we’ve got.”

PROBABLE STARTERS
LA Tech – RHP Jarret Whorff (5-7, 6.34 ERA)
Air Force – RHP Dylan Rogers (2-1, 5.01 ERA)

UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will face Air Force in an elimination game tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest updates on LA Tech Baseball follow them on Twitter (@LATechBSB), Instagram (@LATechBSB) and Facebook (LATechBSB).