RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday afternoon for a 9-8 victory over Missouri State in the series finale at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
Trailing 8-2 entering the final inning, the Bulldogs (27-18, 14-7 Conference USA) scored their first run on a one-out error and then strung together six consecutive hits for the series sweep, the winner a single by Sebastian Mexico.
It was all Bears early, with Brock Lucas turning in another stellar start, taking a shutout into the sixth inning for the second time this week. The senior did not allow a hit until the fifth and left allowing a run on two hits in six innings with five strikeouts.
Carter Bergman’s solo homer (13th) put the Bears (26-15, 14-7) up 1-0 in the second, and the game stayed that way until a LA Tech RBI double in the sixth for a 1-1 tie.
Mo State got going in the seventh, with a leadoff walk to Taeg Gollert followed by a Max Knight single setting the table for a five-run frame. The first run scored on an error, Bryce Cermenelli drove in the next, Logan Fyffe hit an RBI double, and Gabe Roessler added a two-run single for a 6-1 lead.
The Bulldogs made it 6-2 with a single in the eighth, and the Bears pushed the margin to 8-2 in the ninth on a Roessler ground out and Gollert RBI single before the home squad rallied in the ninth.
Fyffe, Curry Sutherland and Roessler each had two hits for the Bears. Cermenelli doubled on the first pitch of the game to extend his hitting streak to 24 games, tying Jason Hart and Nick Kays for the fourth-longest in program history.
The Bears stay on the road for a 5 p.m. Tuesday game at Saint Louis.
