Game 1 of USM-La. Tech goes to the Bulldogs. The next 7 games could prove epic.
Round 1 of what has the potential to be an epic Louisiana Tech-Southern Miss baseball series goes to the Bulldogs.
La. Tech topped USM 3-2 Friday night at Pete Taylor Park in Game 1 of a four-game series at Pete Taylor Park. Four more games are scheduled to be played between the same two teams in two weeks at the newly-rebuilt J.C. Love Field in Ruston, Louisiana.
Whoever comes out on top over the course of the next seven contests will earn a leg up in the hunt for a Conference USA title. You also can’t rule out the idea of one of the two teams potentially hosting an NCAA Regional in June.
Louisiana Tech (15-5, 1-0 in C-USA) entered Friday night’s game as the No. 8 squad nationally in the RPI rankings. After an inconsistent start, USM (13-6, 0-1) started C-USA play on the rise with an RPI ranking of No. 40.
For now, Louisiana Tech looks like the team ready to host an NCAA Regional in a stadium that had to be rebuilt after a tornado destroyed it in April of 2019.
USM is now 14-5 overall against the Bulldogs since they joined C-USA in 2014, but La. Tech gained the momentum in the rivalry Friday night.
“You just have to take it a game-by-game basis,” USM coach Scott Berry said of his team’s approach to the eight-game series. “That’s how the landscape is laid out for us. It happens to be Louisiana Tech we play eight times. It’s two really good programs.”
Southern Miss couldn’t get the big hit
USM’s lineup, which hasn’t had a whole lot of punch this season outside of Reed Trimble and Charlie Fischer, didn’t provide enough support for senior starting pitcher Hunter Stanley Friday night.
Reece Ewing proved to be the lone bat for the Golden Eagles that came through in the clutch, providing an RBI double in the fourth and an RBI single in the eighth to keep his team in the hunt.
The left-handed hitting Ewing, who missed Tuesday’s 5-4 win at Alabama because of a stomach virus, finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
“Reese is swinging the bat well. Both of his hits were off a left-hander,” Berry said. “He had a really good approach up there. I think he’s becoming one of our more consistent hitters in the lineup.”
The rest of Ewing’s teammates combined to strand 10 runners in the game.
Jonathan Fincher keeps USM guessing
Louisiana Tech eventually got enough production at the plate to lift junior left-hander Jonathan Fincher (4-0) to the victory. He seemed to get better as the game went along, starting out his velocity around 86 miles per hour before reaching the low 90’s in the seventh.
“He really surprised me,” Berry said. “He was throwing 86-88 and all of a sudden in the sixth he was throwing 90-92 out of nowhere. I was trying to figure out where he got that burst of energy from. The young man pitched well.”
Fincher gave up two earned runs on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking two.
His unpredictable velocity played to his benefit.
“You didn’t know what fastball it was going to be,” Ewing said. “He was anywhere from 82-90 the whole game. It was a different type of pitcher we saw today.”
All three of Tech’s three runs came with one out in the seventh inning on an RBI double by Taylor Young, a wild pitch by Ryan Och that scored Alex Ray from third and a sacrifice-fly RBI by Hunter Wells.
Tyler Stuart, whose fastball topped out at 97 miles per hour, suffered his first loss of the season. He gave up three earned runs on three hits in 1/3 innings of work.
Hunter Stanley battles through for USM
Stanley didn’t always have his best stuff against Louisiana Tech Friday night, but he gave the Golden Eagles six shutout innings. He allowed no runs on three hits, struck out seven and walked three.
He began to tire in the sixth inning, but he battled back to strike out Ben Brantley to leave a man stranded and preserve USM’s 1-0 lead.
“He did not have his best stuff, but he went out and pitched with it,” Berry said.
USM had a shot in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game or take the lead when USM had men on second and third with one out, but the next two batters couldn’t get it done. Reed Trimble struck out and pinch hitter Slade Wilks, hitting in place of Brady Faust who pinch ran for Charlie Fischer in the eighth, went down swinging on three pitches.
Berry didn’t criticize his hitters’ approach at the plate Friday night, but he acknowledged there weren’t enough hits in key situations.
“I kind of judge everything off by how many balls we put in play. We only had five strikeouts,” Berry said. “We just didn’t put the ball in play at the right time.”
Games 2 and 3 were set to be played at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Pete Taylor Park.
