JOURNAL SPORTS
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Louisiana Tech dog piles were a common occurrence this week as the Bulldogs hoisted the Conference USA Tournament trophy Sunday with a 9-8 walk-off win against UTSA.
Byrd High product Steele Netterville ripped an RBI single to drive in the winning run as the No. 2 seed Bulldogs (42-19) won’t have to wait to find out if their name will be called during the NCAA Tournament Selection Show today.
Now Tech will just find out where it will play, with pairings during the NCAA selection show starting today at 11 a.m. on ESPN.
“We’ve got to make it hard, but I’m so proud of these guys, especially guys like Netterville, (Jonathan) Fincher and Young,” said a teary Tech coach Lane Burroughs. “But for Netterville to come up and walk it off with two outs, he just has it in his DNA. He’s a Bulldog man through and through.
“It couldn’t happen to a better guy, and he’ll have this forever in front of all these people.”
The Bulldogs claimed their first CUSA baseball conference tournament title ever and first for the program since 1987 (Southland Conference).
Tech experienced heartbreak in a 13-inning, 9-6 loss to Old Dominion on Saturday morning before rallying to top the Monarchs on Saturday night 8-7 on a walk-off single from Walker Burchfield.
Sunday brought more of the same with Netterville’s RBI single after UTSA scored knotted the score off ace closer Kyle Crigger in the ninth inning to tie it 8-8, but Crigger (6-2) prevented further damage.
Tech had the answer, starting with a Logan McLeod single, a Wade Elliott sacrifice bunt and a Taylor Young intentional walk.
The No. 5 seed Roadrunners (38-20) skirted Young, the program’s all-time hits leader, only to face Tech’s all-time doubles leader in Netterville, who plated his 66th RBI of the season and finished with three RBIs in the championship game.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead through the first two innings on RBIs from Cole McConnell and Jorge Corona, who scored the third run on a wild pitch.
But UTSA dropped a four-spot to chase starter Jarrett Whorff. The lead changed four more times before Netterville’s walk-off.
Lead changes were central to Tech’s 8-7 walk-off against ODU on Saturday evening, including two Monarch runs in the ninth inning to build a 7-6 edge.
Netterville scored the winning run in that walk-off off the bat of Burchfield as Crigger picked up the first of his two straight wins to close the tournament.
It was Tech’s third straight tournament game against ODU after the Bulldogs beat the Monarchs 7-2 on Thursday before Saturday’s doubleheader split.
In the 13-inning loss, Tech nearly rallied from a 6-1 deficit helped by a Philip Matulia two-run home run, a Young solo shot and RBIs from McLeod and Adarius Myers.
Young’s home run in the eighth inning tied the score at 6-6, but the Monarchs finally broke through with three runs in the 13th inning and held Tech scoreless for the fifth straight inning.
ODU reliever Jason Hartline dealt 3 2-3 scoreless innings to get the win.
But then came Saturday’s second game.
And then came Sunday.
Photo courtesy of Louisiana Tech Athletics