Davis' homers lift Tech past Sam Houston

Facing elimination in the Conference USA Baseball Tournament, Louisiana Tech refused to back down and delivered the response they expected.

With a pair of home runs from Dalton Davis, 3 RBIs from Michael Ballard, and lights-out relief from Sam Brodersen, the Bulldogs (43-16) staved off elimination in a 5-3 win over Sam Houston to set up a Saturday rematch against Liberty - now two wins away from getting to the CUSA Championship game.

"We've been here before. We talked about it after Game One. We were here three years ago. We had two win two games and we walked Southern Miss off twice. This is not new to us. We expect to be playing on Sunday. Nothing against Liberty. They're a great team and they beat us today. But our guys expect to be playing on Sunday."

Backs against the wall? It's where Tech has proven it doesn't go quietly. Even when DI postseason experience is lacking for the likes of Grant Hubka, Sam Broderson, and Michael Ballard.

Hubka, in his first ever postseason appearance/start held SHS scoreless and without a hit for three innings to go with 5 Ks. The Bearkats jumped on him with the bases loaded in the fifth, eventually tying the game at 3-3, but he put Tech in position to go to its top bullpen arms when it was needed. Hubka also forced SHS to strand two runners at third in seperate innings.

Brodersen, who pitched at the DII level last year, took no prisoners once again, holding SHS scoreless for 3 1/3 innings with 5 strikeouts - putting him at 95 on the year. In his last six apperances (13 1/3 innings), he's struck out 20 batters, allowed 3 hits, and just a single run.

“Sam Brodersen was key. That’s an alpha. That’s an alpha dog right there," Burroughs said. "That’s what it looks like. He basically said give me the baseball. You gotta understand he just threw two days ago. He just kept going. He came in with the bases loaded, nobody out and I know they scored three runs but he minimized that. That thing could have gotten out of hand quick and it would have been hard to come back. I went and took the ball from him and I said, “You’re going to be pitching next week because of what you just did. And he looked at me and said, ‘I’m pitching tomorrow.’”

Burroughs said Brodersen will not be available on Saturday.

Davis gave Tech a 2-0 lead in the third with a home run to left, followed up later by Ballard slapping an RBI single to center for a 3-0 lead. The senior first baseman stayed hot, launching a solo HR to give Tech the lead back in the seventh. Ballard once again followed suit with an RBI single to give needed cushion at 5-3.

“Dalton has been scuffling a little bit. He didn’t play great last weekend but he’s a great hitter and he found a way to get it done tonight - the two home runs were huge," Burroughs said.

Ballard finished 2-4 with 2 RBIs, while Davis ended 2-5 with 3 RBIs.

To close the win, Ethan Bates picked up his 16th save of the year - once again leading the nation.

LA Tech faces Liberty at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in another must-win game.