Louisiana Tech junior second baseman Taylor Young details the lineup's patient approach versus Southeastern Louisiana Tuesday night. Monroe News-Star
RUSTON – Taylor Young reached base all five plate appearances versus Southeastern Louisiana Tuesday night at Ruston High's baseball field.
The funny thing is Louisiana Tech's leadoff hitter might have swung his bat as many times as took his base, accumulating three walks and was hit by a pitch twice.
That approach, more balanced and patient, filtered its way all the way down the lineup in an efficient and fruitful night at the dish for the Bulldogs (11-6) with a season-high 11 walks along with four total HBPs as they downed the Lions, 14-3, to bounce back from series sweep this past weekend at Wichita State.
"We had a hitters meeting (Monday) with (Tech hitting coach Mitch) Gaspard," Young said after the win's victory. "We went over stuff that we've done throughout the year, the goods and the bads. He preached consistency throughout the lineup, everybody having good at-bats back-to-back-to-back, not taking a pitch off. I think that's what we did tonight.
"The scoreboard says we had 13 hits and 14 runs. I mean, that's production any way you look at it. I think we did a pretty good throughout the lineup."
Tech piled up 12 of its 13 hits through five frames against five different pitchers, extending the lead to 13-0 before Southeastern Louisiana posted two runs in the sixth and one in the seventh.
Senior three-hole batter Parker Bates continued to stay red hot, going 4-for-5, including his team-leading eighth homer this season in the sixth, with four RBIs three runs and a walk, while junior cleanup hitter Steele Netterville posted a six-RBI game off two, three-run home runs.
Freshman Jorge Corona and senior Hunter Wells each had two hits, two walks and Seth White added two hits and a walk.
"The ingredients of a big inning are walks, HBPs and errors," Louisiana Tech head coach Lane Burroughs said. "We got our walks tonight, we got our HBPs, we were able to steal a couple of bags. I thought offensively, we were locked in from the get-go.
"Coach Gaspard really challenged these guys to come out of the gates. It seems like we've been kind of feeling our way through the few innings and then turning it on late. He really challenged them today. What a response, we put up a five-spot (in the first). Proud of our club to come off a bad weekend where I thought we played well enough to get out of there with a series victory or even a sweep, but it didn't go our way. To come out the way we did tonight and put it on a good team, I was proud of our guys."
Double-digit walks lead you to believe Tech took a lot of pitches, and while the lineup did, Young also said he and his teammates jumped on plenty of pitches early in counts as they were locked in on fastballs.
That symbiotic mixture of patience but yet smarter pitch selection started back in Wichita, Kansas Sunday, ironically after the Bulldogs fell behind by 8 runs to the Shockers through innings.
"We're down 8-0 in the second inning, on the verge of being swept and it' easy to lay down. But we responded really well," Young said. "Came back, got ourselves in the ballgame, give us a chance to win in the end.
"It showed a lot about us, grit, maturity, patience and looseness. We didn't get uptight and it was encouraging to see that on Sunday."
The 20 innings prior to the third inning Sunday, there was a lot left to be desired as Burroughs said the team as a whole just did not play well in series opener Friday night and then followed that by not garnering the big, timely hits when they were needed on Saturday.
Young and Burroughs agreed that how the lineup rallied and closed out the series finale at Wichita State carried over to the double-digit win over the instate rival Lions.
"We lost, but we competed the whole game. I don't think we gave an at-bat away from the second inning on. I think we put at least a crooked number from the second to the ninth inning," Young said. "And tonight we swung it well. I think confidence and consistent at-bats back-to-back helps us."
"Offensively, we kind of relaxed," Burrough said. "We were down 8-0, I thought our guys just relaxed and started swinging the sticks. Worked ourselves not only back in the game, but we took the lead with a chance to win. I think our guys are relaxing and finding their patience and who they are at the plate. We're almost 20 games in, it's league play time and we need to be at this point this time of year.
"When you got confidence, ball looks bigger, the game slows down. I think a lot of our guys, the game is slowing down. We're pretty locked in the last two games offensively and hopefully that'll carry over."
Louisiana Tech opens up Conference USA play this weekend in a "home" series versus Middle Tennessee State at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi Friday night at 6 p.m.
2020-03-11 12:40:33Z
https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/sports/college/louisiana-tech/2020/03/10/la-tech-baseball-roughs-up-southeastern-louisiana-midweek-clash/4995119002/
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