RUSTON – Two-out runs were in fashion Tuesday night at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
Homestanding Louisiana Tech fashioned those pivotal runs, while Northwestern State failed in nearly every opportunity. The Bulldogs built an early lead and cruised to a 12-1 victory against the Demons in the third and final matchup of the season between the teams.
“Not very good baseball execution, but more than that, it was just an in ability to generate and hold any momentum,” third-year NSU coach Chris Bertrand said. “Early in the game, when we were still in it, I thought we had a chance to get some things done, and we couldn’t get it done. So we could never really generate and hold any momentum, and you mix that with essentially not pitching the ball great and not swinging the bats great and that’s what ends up happening.”
The Demons (25-21) delivered the first two-out salvo of the game when Ethan Menard lined a two-out double down the left-field line, and Joe Siervo followed with a run-scoring single to left-center.
Those were two of the three hits Northwestern recorded as three Bulldog pitchers handcuffed the Demon lineup in the seven-inning contest.
Louisiana Tech took the lead for good on a two-run double by Matt Houston that initially was ruled a catch by a diving Brooks Leonard with two outs in the first inning. The flare off of Carter White (1-4) was eventually ruled to have fallen for the go-ahead hit.
That began a stretch of three multi-run innings in which the Bulldogs scored a total of eight runs with two outs -– three each in the third and fourth innings.
While three of the first four hitters in the third inning reached via walks, the Demons retired the first two Bulldog hitters in the fourth inning before an Eli Berch double began a five-batter run of four hits and a walk that produced a second straight three-run inning for the Bulldogs.
It also stood in opposition to the Demons’ half of the fourth that started with a Siervo walk and a Michael McAloose single. The runners moved up when Siervo stole third and McAloose took second on a wild pitch, putting two runners in scoring position with no outs.
Luke Cooley (1-1), however, responded with consecutive strikeouts before Zach White lined out to a sliding Sebastian Mexico in left field to keep the Demons off the board.
“We found ourselves in opportunities offensively where all we really had to do was move the baseball, and we were unable to do that,” Bertrand said. “Sometimes, it doesn’t require a lot. It requires small things, and those small things generate momentum and allow you to hold it. Same thing, I think, on the pitching end of it. When you give up 12 walks and HBPs and walk the bases loaded, they get the benefit of scoring runs without having to move the barrel or move the barrel very little. There’s the momentum swings in the game, and the ability to generate momentum and hold it leads to crooked numbers, and there were crooked numbers all over the board.”
The Demons return to action Thursday when they open their final regular-season series of the year at McNeese. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at Joe Miller Ballpark.