May 17, 2008
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Louisiana Tech got three runs in the eighth inning to take the lead and held off a New Mexico State rally in the bottom of the ninth to take a 7-6 victory in the third of a four-game series on a very windy Saturday night at Presley Askew Field.
Tech (23-30, 7-22 WAC) guaranteed itself at least a series split with the win, its first on the road in conference play this season. NMSU (27-31, 14-17 WAC), meanwhile, drops into the sixth spot in the conference standings and looks favored to face Fresno State in the first round of next week's WAC Tournament in Ruston.
"We're playing as a team right now," Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux said. "We played good defense tonight and we pitched well."
With Tech trailing 5-4 heading to the eighth, a one-out single from Kevin Winn brought in Nick Grunenwald from second to tie the game. Drew Bunting followed that up with a single through the right side to score Adam Cobb and give Tech a 6-5 lead. After another pitching change, Jericho Jones stayed back on a curveball and poked it through the left side, bringing in Winn to put an insurance run on the board at 7-5. A bases-loaded double play would end the threat, but the damage had been done.
Jamey Bradshaw then surrendered a leadoff home run to Colin Crouthamel to cut the Bulldog lead to 7-6. He would strike out the next two batters - both lefthanders - but then gave up a double to Tyler Hardt to put the tying run in scoring position. Aaron Lorio would then enter and induce a ground ball to the right of second base, where Winn - who had singled to bring in the tying run earlier - made a spectacular play to nail the runner at first and end the game.
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The Bulldogs were helped by six Aggie errors, the sixth time this season NMSU had committed five or more miscues in the game.
"If New Mexico State played better defense, I'd pick them to win the conference tournament," Simoneaux said. "They're a very, very good hitting team."
Winn was 2-for-4 in the game with two RBI and two runs scored. Drew Bunting also had a pair of hits, including the go-ahead RBI in the eighth, and Chris Kersten went 2-for-5.
Bradshaw (2-2) got the win with 3.1 innings of solid relief, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out two, and Lorio picked up his second save of the season. Jones got the start and went 5.1 innings, giving up five runs on 11 hits while fanning four Aggies.
It was not a night conducive to home runs as a stiff wind was blowing straight in from right-center. Nevertheless, line drives and hard grounders were plentiful as the teams combined for 26 hits.
The night also saw some players in unusual positions. Alex Richard, who pitched in both ends of Friday's doubleheader and has played left field on occasion this season, was called upon to relieve Matt Combs at catcher. It was his first appearance behind the plate this season after catching a few innings in 2007.
"He's a very versatile player," Simoneaux said. "Alex can play any position out there, and we're glad he could give us a few innings behind the plate tonight with Combs being the only regular catcher on the trip."
Tech struck first as it has in all three games of this series as an RBI double from Clay Alexander scored Clint Stubbs from first to make it 1-0 Bulldogs in the second. But the Aggies would respond in kind, with a Chris Auten double followed by a pair of deep fly balls to score the run and tie the game.
The bats would remain relatively silent until the fifth when the `Dawgs took advantage of three Aggie errors and score two runs, both unearned. Winn scored the first run when Jones' ground ball got through the third baseman's legs, giving Tech a 2-1 lead. Bunting would then make it 3-1 when an error by the second baseman allowed him to score from third with two outs.
Of course, the Aggies would answer once again. Bryan Marquez took the second pitch of the inning over the left-field wall - a low line drive - to pull the Aggies to within a run at 3-2. Then, with two out, three consecutive hits down the right-field line (two for extra bases) brought in three more runs to give NMSU a 5-3 lead.
Tech would cut the lead in half in the sixth when Winn singled to score Alexander from second, making it 5-4.
Louisiana Tech will close out its 2008 season on Sunday with a 2:05 p.m. Central contest with these same Aggies in Las Cruces. The broadcast will be heard on The Peach 99.3 FM (online at www.thepeach993.com) with Lady Techster softball airing on ESPN 97.7 FM. Live stats will also be available through www.latechsports.com.
