Kyle Crigger struck out eight batters over the final four innings and Taylor Young drove home the go-ahead run with a bases loaded walk in the top of the 12th inning as Louisiana Tech defeated No. 14 LSU 7-6 in a game that lasted 5 hours and 12 minutes at Alex Box Stadium.
It marks the second time this season that LA Tech has defeated the Tigers on the diamond.
“You had everything in this game tonight,” said Tech skipper Lane Burroughs. “There were lot going on. At the end of day the message to the team before the game was compete. Word of the day. Compete. Even if we had lost this game, I thought we competed our tails off.
“By the end of the game, we had guys playing out of position. (Thaxton) Berch was playing second, and he hasn’t taken a ground ball in five months. (Riggs) Easterling was playing third and he hasn’t done that. That’s who we are. There are millions of dollars worth of players over there (in the other dugout), and we are just a bunch of guys competing our tails off.”
After Tech (15-6) took an early 4-0 lead, the Bulldogs found themselves trailing 6-4 heading into the top of the ninth inning.
“I thought we went dead offensively between the third and the ninth innings,” said Burroughs. “We didn’t take good swings. There were a lot of punch outs tonight. 40 between the two teams. But there were a lot of good arms too.
“When they took the lead we could have easily cashed it in. But we didn’t. Taylor (Young) may have broken his hand, but he stayed in the game. It’s not looking good. It’s swollen and black and blue, but he refused to come out of the game. He said, ‘I’m not coming out.’ That says a lot about him.”
However, an error and three straight walks forced home a run to cut the deficit to 6-5. Steele Netterville then grounded into a double play but the tying run crossed the plate in the form of Easterling to knot the game at 6-6.
Crigger, Tech’s usual closer, got extended innings. He entered in the bottom of the ninth inning and proceeded to strike out eight batters without allowing a run to score over the final 4.0 innings.
“I was going to put a stop to that if we had gone another inning,” said Burroughs. “I wasn’t going to let him pitch five innings. Thanks goodness we scored the run, and he got the next three outs. What a competitor. He wants the ball, and all he does is pound the strike zone. He threw some beautiful change ups and sliders, and got a lot of swings and misses. He was fantastic.”
It didn’t come without some stressful pitches.
LSU had the winning run on third with one out in the bottom of the 11th, but a failed suicide squeeze attempt cost the Tigers the base runner.
Then after the Dogs took the 7-6 lead in the top of the 12th, LSU put runners on the corners with no outs before Crigger struck out the next three batters all swinging.
“I believe that this game rewards you,” said Burroughs. “We came out here, and we competed. We deserved to win. The game rewarded us.”
Tech used four pitchers in Greg Martinez, Ryan Harland, Ryan Jennings and Crigger.
“Greg Martinez was really good in the start.” said Burroughs. “Ryan Harland goes out there; a hometown boy who I’m sure grew up coming to LSU games. All he did was punch out two. I thought (Ryan) Jennings was outstanding in relief. And Crigger, four innings, eight strikeouts. I thought our pitchers were outstanding.”
Tech will host FIU in a three-game Conference USA series this weekend, starting with Friday’s 6 p.m. first pitch at JC Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
Photo: Tom Morris
