By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON — Following a magical Saturday with a pair of one-run wins, Louisiana Tech’s pitching staff looked completely depleted in the tank Sunday, as the Bulldogs fell 17-10 after a nine-run top of the first inning gave Dallas Baptist the early lead and momentum in the title game of the 2024 Conference USA Championships.
Bulldog senior pitcher Reed Smith got off to a rocky start by giving up four consecutive singles and back-to-back home runs, giving the Patriots an early 6-0 lead before an out was ever recorded. Junior Caden Copeland came in for relief after Smith’s outing and gave up two hits and a run and would be replaced by senior Isaac Crabb on the mound.
“(Dallas Baptist is) very scary because they have power,” said Tech head coach Lane Burroughs. “That’s what they are known for. The wind was howling out to left. When I saw the first ball leave (the park) I knew it was going to be hard to hold them in to left field. They got on some balls. It was Reed’s bullpen day so we just wanted an inning out of him. I feel bad for him that he couldn’t get out of the inning.
“The nine-spot was tough. It was tough to watch. I felt bad for our fans because they were all fired up and they were grinding too. They hadn’t had any sleep and it was hot, and that’s how we greeted them.”
Tech answered in the bottom of the first with a RBI single into left field by senior catcher Jorge Corona to score senior Cole McConnell from third. And as the legendary rally train roared past the outfield wall, senior infielder Michael Ballard hit a ball that appeared to be an easy double-play right to the short stop, who muffed the ball and allowed the bases to load.
Senior outfielder Adarius Myers hit into a fielder’s choice double-play in his outing, scoring senior designated hitter Ethan Bates to cut the lead to 9-2 at the bottom of the first.
DBU’s Luke Heefner would single into right field to score senior Alex Pendergast with two outs to extend the lead to 10-2 in the top of the second.
“We just couldn’t get a zero,” said Burroughs. “Finally Connor Nation gave us one and some life.”
The Bulldogs then loaded the bases in the bottom of the second with no outs, bringing McConnell back up at the top of the order, who would get hit by a pitch and score junior Brody Drost to cut the lead to 10-3. Bates would add a sacrifice fly to right field on the next at-bat, scoring senior Kasten Furr for a 10-4 score.
Corona then hit a one-out single to left field to score senior Logan McLeod, who got the nod at third base after freshman Grant Comeaux had to take over at first base for ill senior Dalton Davis. Tech’s three runs in the bottom of the second cut the lead to 10-5.
“I just felt like offensively we were going to keep scoring and we did,” said Burroughs. “We kept getting runners on and guys were having good at bats. We were without one of the best hitters in the league in Dalton (Davis). That hurt us.”
Dallas Baptist homered three times in the top of the third after junior Turner Swistak came into relieve Crabb, extending the lead to 13-5.
Tech loaded the bases in the bottom of the third with one out, and Heefner would be charged with an error as he mishandled what could have been another routine double-play from McLeod to score Comeaux and keep the bases loaded at 13-6. McConnell would add a sacrifice fly to center field to score Drost and cut DBU’s lead to 13-7.
The Patriots added their sixth home run of the day in the top of the fourth, scoring two and extending the lead to 15-7.
Comeaux hit a sac-fly in the bottom of the forth to left field, scoring Ballard and cutting the lead to 15-8.
Junior Connor Nation came in for the Bulldogs in the top of the fifth, leading to the first scoreless half-inning of the game to that point.
DBU added another run in the top of the sixth with a one-out single by Chayton Krauss to go up 16-8.
After a scoreless seventh by both teams, the Patriots scored on a single by sophomore Michael Dattalo with no outs in the top of the eighth for a 17-8 lead.
Myers would bring a run home in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out single to cut the DBU lead to 17-9 — he’d then score one batter later on an awkward single by Comeaux in the right field gap for a 17-10 score.
The teams combined for 34 hits total, with Tech getting 13 on the day. The biggest difference, however, was extra base hits: the Bulldogs only had one to the Patriots’ nine, including six home runs.
“Credit DBU,” said Burroughs. “They have a good program and they have a good team, and they deserved to win today.
“We never quit. That’s what I said on the post-game radio. If you are a Louisiana Tech fan or alumni and you are ashamed of this game today then you need to check yourself. Our guys kept fighting to the last out was made. It ends up being 17-10 after a 9-0 start. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys and their resiliency and the way they played.
“Obviously we wanted to win the game. We made it to Sunday and we had to do it the hard way. We still have a lot of baseball in front of us.”
The Bulldogs will learn their regional location Monday at 11 a.m.
