By Kyle Roberts
Louisiana Tech got a stellar start from Reed Smith on the mound and home runs from Cole McConnell and Grant Comeaux en route to an 8-2 win over Middle Tennessee in the first game of the Conference USA Baseball Championships at JC Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
After a delay of the ninth inning that lasted over 14 hours, senior closer Ethan Bates needed just 3 minutes, 37 seconds to retire the side and secure the victory for the Bulldogs when the two teams returned to the field this morning.
“I’m so proud of our guys,” Louisiana Tech head coach Lane Burroughs said. “It was obviously a strange, weird-type ending last night. It’s an unsettling feeling to go home and get into bed (with three outs to play); you want to get that win and get it over with. Good thing is we’re in the winners’ bracket with our 42nd win. We just need to keep winning.”
Senior pitcher Reed Smith got the nod on the mound last night, pitching 6.0 innings and giving up only one earned run. Smith threw 90 pitches and allowed just four hits and one walk while striking out four. The lone run came on a solo home run in the top of the second by Blue Raider Brady Holloway.
“I thought Smith was outstanding,” Burroughs said. “I didn’t think he had his best stuff (at first). He came in after the fourth and started yelling “I’m not coming out of this game.” He knew I was getting close to making a move. And all he did was battle and compete. He’s our foxhole guy; the toughest guy on the team and a guy everybody loves.”
Tech shot out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, started by an RBI single by Bates. After the Bulldogs loaded the bases later in the inning, Comeaux knocked in two runs with a two-out hit.
Comeaux would add a solo home run over left field in the bottom of the fourth to give Tech a 4-1 lead, his first homer at J.C. Love Field. McConnell tacked on a two-run home run later in the inning with two outs for a 6-1 score, forcing a pitching change for the Blue Raiders. McConnell would also make a stellar catch mid-game in center field on the warning track.
“What can you say about (Comeaux),” Burroughs said. “He’s a winner. He played at one of the best high schools in the country at Barbe (in Lake Charles, La.) and redshirted last year. He took it like a man and has done so well for us this season.”
The Bulldogs would get two more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning after Bates singled to right field, scoring both Comeaux and senior Kasten Furr.
Middle Tennessee would get a two-out double in the top of the eighth to score one run to cut the lead to 8-2
The Raiders put their first run on the board in the top of the second with a home run by junior Brady Holloway.
The Bulldogs are scheduled to return to action Friday at 12:30 p.m. to take on the winner of Sam Houston and Liberty.
