RUSTON, La. -- The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead over Old Dominion and defeated the Monarchs, 11-4, in game one of the Conference USA weekend series at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park on Friday night. With the loss, ODU fell to 24-14 overall and 7-9 in C-USA play, while the Bulldogs moved to 22-12 and 9-7 in league action.
LA Tech jumped on the Monarchs early, putting up eight runs in the first inning. The most runs ODU has given up in the opening inning is 10, set by the Richmond Spiders on their home field on March 9, 1995. LA Tech added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning, bringing its run total to 10 in just two innings.
Old Dominion did get one run in the second and two in the fourth to pull with in seven runs (10-3), all coming by way of solo home runs. Designated hitter Turner Bishop hit one out of the park down the right field line in the second, while in the fourth Connor Myers drilled one over the “batter’s eye” in center field and Seth Woodard knocked one out in right center.
The Monarchs scored one more run in the sixth off a sacrifice fly to right field from Myers (10-4), but the Bulldogs tacked on one more run in the bottom of the seventh to extend their lead back to seven runs (11-4) to reach the final margin.
Myers and Zach Rutherford were the only Monarchs to record two hits, their seventh and eighth two-hit games of the season, respectively. Myers also led the team with two RBIs on the night, bringing his season total to 27. Hartman was hit with the loss after allowing the eight runs in the first inning.
Joey Benitez spelled starting pitcher Nick Hartman in the second inning and pitched a solid 5.1 innings of relief, the most of his career. He allowed three runs and fanned five after facing 25 batters during his time on the mound. The five strikeouts broke his career high of four that he hit two times over his career.
Chandler Hall and Bryce Stark paced LA Tech with a 3-for-4 outings with two runs and two RBIs. Two Bulldogs recorded three hits on the night, while Jordan Washam added two RBIs to his stat line. Phillip Diehl earned the win, pitching 6.0 innings. Nate Harris also earned the save after pitching the final three innings to LA Tech with four strikeouts.
The Monarchs will be back in action tomorrow against the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. at J.C. Love Field for game two of the series. The game will again be streamed through latechsports.com and broadcast on STAR 1310, with Doug Ripley on the call. Live stats will be available once the contest begins and can be found on latechsports.com.
ODU | 010 201 000 - 4 7 1
LA Tech | 820 000 10X - 11 13 0
ODU | Nick Hartman, Joey Benitez (2), Thomas Busbice (7)
LA Tech | Phillip Diehl, Nate Harris (7)
Win | Phillip Diehl (3-4)
Loss | Nick Hartman (4-3)
Save | Nate Harris (3)
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