May 18, 2008
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State combined for seven home runs and 32 hits, but the Aggies had just a bit more firepower in outlasting the Bulldogs for a 15-13 victory on the final day of the 2008 regular season at Presley Askew Field.
The Bulldogs conclude the season with a record of 23-31, 7-23 in Western Athletic Conference play, and will not participate in next week's conference tournament at J.C. Love Field in Ruston. New Mexico State (28-31, 15-17 WAC) will either be the fifth or sixth seed, depending on the outcome of Sunday's game between Fresno State and Sacramento State.
"It's been a rough season," Tech head coach Wade Simoneaux said. "But I'm proud of the way our guys kept fighting hard and never gave up. I'm really proud of our seniors who gave us four good years, or five good years in the case of Alan Knotts. But we can't relax too much right now, we've got to hit the recruiting trail and we'll also be doing plenty of scouting at the conference tournament."
Chris Bohannan had a breakout game in his last contest of the season, going 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and four RBI, setting several career highs in the process.
"This ballpark fits Chris very well," Simoneaux says. "He hits a lot of fly balls, and if you get the ball up in the air here, you can have some success."
Matt Combs and Jericho Jones also hit a home run apiece for the `Dawgs. Combs went 2-for-4 with three runs scored and Jones was 3-for-4 with four RBI. Nick Grunenwald, Drew Bunting and Clint Stubbs all had multi-hit games for Tech.
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Landon Braud (0-2) pitched well in relief but was charged with the loss after giving up six runs on six hits while striking out two. Tech used five pitchers in the game, with John Anderson getting the start and Andrew Lassere, Casey Jones and Mike LeBreton working in relief.
For the fourth straight game, Tech jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Jones singled through the left side to score Grunenwald from second.
But the lead wouldn't last long as Richard Stout scored on a sacrifice fly from Joseph Scaperotta to tie the game, and a double from Chris Auten gave the Aggies a lead.
Tech would explode for five runs in the second when Bohannan singled home Stubbs from second to tie the game, and then Winn singled to bring in Bohannan to put the `Dawgs back ahead. A Bunting base hit would drive in two more runs, and another RBI single from Jones gave Tech a 6-2 lead.
But once again, the Aggies took advantage of the thin air and favorable wind to retake the lead with a seven-run bottom of the second. A Scaperotta grand slam - his league-leading 22nd home run of the year - gave the Aggies a 7-6 lead, and then a Marcus Quade two-run shot made it 9-6 for the home team.
Tech would then find itself on the right end of the seesaw battle, scoring four in the third to go back ahead. A leadoff home run from Bohannan made it 9-7, and after Combs scored on a double play, Jones blasted a two-run shot to put the `Dawgs back ahead 10-9.
The Bulldogs would get one more in the fourth after Stubbs got his first triple of the year and then scored on a Bohannan fly ball to make it 11-9.
It would only take two swings of the bat to erase the Bulldog lead, though. Joe Leghorn doubled to right field to bring in Marcos Rosales, and a Scaperotta groundout would bring in Stout to tie the game at 11-11.
The Aggies would then get two in the sixth to take a 13-11 lead, but that would be cut in half when Combs led off the seventh with a solo shot to left to pull Tech back to within a run at 13-12. NMSU would then plate two more in the seventh to go ahead 15-12.
Bohannan would take the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning over the 30-foot high batter's eye in straightaway center field to pull Tech to within striking distance at 15-13. But the final three batters failed to reach and the game came to a close, amazingly in less than three hours.
Jones ends the season as the team's batting champion with a .364 average. Senior Albie Goulder finished with a team-leading 14 home runs, and Chris Kersten's 51 RBIs were tops for the Bulldogs.
While the season is over for Louisiana Tech, there is still plenty of baseball to be played at J.C. Love Field. The 2008 Western Athletic Conference Tournament begins Thursday morning in Ruston as regular-season champion Fresno State will face either NMSU or Sacramento State at 11 a.m. Two more games are set for 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and the rededication of Tech's ballpark as "Pat Patterson Park at J.C. Love Field" is slated for 6:45 p.m. Thursday prior to the third game of the day.
Game times will be the same on Friday and Saturday, with the conference championship game slated for a noon start on Sunday. To purchase tickets, contact the Tech ticket office at 318-257-3631. Live stats and live video streaming will be available through wacsports.com.
