THE RUNDOWN
DBU suffered a 12-5 loss to Louisiana Tech on Friday night in the Austin Regional at Disch-Falk Field. With the loss, the Patriots (34-23-1) will meet Air Force in an elimination game on Saturday.

The Bulldogs' lead-off hitter Taylor Young jumpstarted the LA Tech (43-19) offense with three hits including a pair of doubles and two stolen bases, while Philip Matulia and Jorge Corona combined to drive in 10 runs.  Eight walks by Patriot pitchers also helped provide plenty of scoring opportunities for the Bulldogs who will now face Texas in the winner's bracket on Saturday.

DBU struck first on Friday when Nathan Humphreys hit his second home run of the season and his first since Opening Day to put the Patriots on top 1-0 in the top of the third.  The lead proved to be short-lived as Philip Matulia smashed a two-run blast in the bottom half of the inning off of Bubba Hall to put Louisiana Tech on top 2-1.

It would be a lead that the Bulldogs would not relinquish as LA Tech broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning.  After Hall hit the first batter that he faced and then gave up a double to Young, Zach Heaton entered the game and surrendered a two-run double to Matulia.  Two batters latter, Cole McConnell doubled to bring in another run.  With the Bulldogs up 5-1, Corona smashed the first of his two home runs with a towering two-run blast over the wall in left to extend the LA Tech lead to six.

Trailing 7-1 in the top of the sixth, the Patriots cut the deficit in half on a three-run homer by Cole Moore.  As the Bulldogs did throughout the night, they responded with a big inning of their own.  With the bases loaded and two out, Corona hit a high fly to center field that Humphreys was not able to find in the Austin twilight sky and after the ball sailed over his head and went all the way to the wall, all three runners scored followed by Corona who came in to score on an inside the park grand slam to put the Bulldogs up 11-4.

In the eighth, Blayne Jones ripped an RBI single into center only to be answered a run-scoring single by LA Tech's Adarius Myers in their half of the eighth.

The Bulldogs' Greg Martinez closed out DBU in the ninth, working 3.2 innings and allowing just one run to earn the save.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW 
- While DBU pitching walked eight batters, the Patriots did not draw a walk on the night.                     
- Half of Louisiana Tech's hits went for extra bases.                                                                           
- DBU will now face an Air Force team that fell to top-seeded Texas, 11-3. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 
11 - The first five hitters in Louisiana Tech's order accounted for 11 of the team's 12 hits.
3 - Jace Grady paced the Patriot offense with three hits.                                                                     
47 - Cole Moore now leads the team with 47 RBI.

UP NEXT 
DBU will face Air Force on Saturday at Disch-Falk Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 p.m.

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