Middle Tennessee Can’t Survive Early Offense From No. 16 Louisiana Tech in 6-1 Loss

Sunday, May 2

Murfreesboro, TN

1:00 PM

Middle Tennessee

21-21-1, 0

Louisiana Tech

32-11, 0

LA TECH

Middle Tennessee

5/2/2021 5:17:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: @MTAthletics

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Much like it did Friday, No. 16 Louisiana Tech (32-11, 18-6) jumped out to an early first-inning lead that proved to be too much for Middle Tennessee (21-21-1, 10-13-1) as the Bulldogs completed the sweep by taking Sunday's series finale 6-1.

"We got off to a bad start and all of a sudden it was 3-0," said Middle Tennessee Head Coach Jim Toman. "We fought back but couldn't get it done. Give Louisiana Tech credit. We kept it close and our guys competed until the last out."

The game got off to an eventful start, as both teams combined to plate four total runs in the first inning. Louisiana Tech scored three runs on back-to-back at-bats with two men out when Manny Garcia roped an RBI double into the gap and Steele Netterville hit a two-run home run just a few pitches later.

Middle Tennessee fought back, scoring a run with two outs when Cole Escher doubled and cleanup hitter Brett Coker picked up his fourth straight hit in his fourth straight at-bat by legging out an RBI infield hit.

Perhaps the turning point of the ballgame came in the fifth inning, however, when MT left fielder Hunter Sullivan was at the plate catcher Briggs Rutter standing on second and one man out. Sullivan rode a pitch out to left center field, which looked to be off the top of the yellow line at the top of the outfield wall for what appeared to be a two-run home run that would've put the Blue Raiders down by one.

The umpires ruled it a ground-rule double, which meant Sullivan would have to stop at second base and Rutter would be awarded the Blue Raiders second run of the afternoon. After reconvening, the call was changed on the field to a straight double, meaning Rutter would have to come back to third and the run came off the board.

"I thought they had called a home run, then they said it was a ground rule double and ultimately called it a regular double," Toman said. "It looked like it was over the wall. It would've put us down by a run and made it 4-3 in the sixth, so we would've had a shot."

As a whole, the Blue Raiders hit five doubles, which is the most in a game this season. Hunter Sullivan had two and Cole Escher, Briggs Rutter and Jacob Williams had the others.

Middle Tennessee was led offensively by Hunter Sullivan and Brett Coker. Over the span of the series, Sullivan went 5-for-12 with an RBI, a run and two stolen bases.

Coker finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with the lone RBI for Middle Tennessee. He finished the series 8-for-15 with two RBIs, two runs and three stolen bases.

On the mound, the Blue Raider bullpen combined to go for 4.2 innings and allowed just two unearned runs. Trent Seibert came on with one out in the fifth in relief of starter Zach Keenan. Seibert went for 1.2 innings and allowed two hits and one unearned run. Senior David Zoz followed up Keenan by tossing two innings and allowing just one unearned run. With nobody out and a pair of runners on first and second in the ninth inning, freshman Eriq Swan got a double-play ball to help limit the Bulldogs to just one run that was charged to Zoz.

"The pitchers competed as usual," Toman said. "We didn't walk many guys. When you look back, we could've won at least three of these games. We're going to go down to [Southern Mississippi] and compete. We've got another chance next week against a top-25 team, so it'll be fun."

Lots of potential runs were left on the table Sunday, as both teams combined to leave 22 runners on base. Louisiana Tech left 13, and the Blue Raiders stranded nine.

Middle Tennessee hits the road next weekend for a four-game set with the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. First pitch Friday is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

Anthony Fiorella is a writer for goblueraiders.com. Follow him on Twitter @a_fiorella74 and also follow @mt_baseball on Twitter, @mt_baseball on Instagram and Blue Raider Baseball on Facebook for more on the Blue Raiders.