Tech outscores No. 4 Ole Miss, still loses due to weather ruling
Ole Miss infielder Peyton Chatagnier checks Tech catcher Jorge Corona after he arrived at second following a double in Wednesday’s game in Oxford. Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics
OXFORD, Mississippi — Louisiana Tech scored twice in the top of the seventh to take a 5-4 lead over No. 4- ranked Ole Miss Wednesday night at Oxford-University Stadium and Swayze Field.
Officially, that never really happened.
Following the Tech rally with a runner still on base, play was halted due to lightning in the area. While a light rain was falling, a tarp was never put on the field. More than two hours later, it was deemed that the field was unplayable and the game was called.
But here’s the catch. According to rules, Ole Miss officials reverted back to the last full inning played and the Rebels came out on top 4-3, saddling Tech with a loss that was a bitter pill to swallow.
“After retaking the lead, 5-4, and still threatening in the top of the seventh inning, the game went into a weather delay due to lightning in the area,” an official Louisiana Tech Athletics statement said. “Nearly two hours later, the Bulldogs and Revels were set to resume play at 7:45 p.m. It was not long after that when the contest was put back into a weather delay and ultimately called off.
“At no point during the two-plus hour delay were there any plans to tarp the field if heavy rain became an issue. We approached Ole Miss offering to return to Oxford to finish the game at a future date (possibly as early as next week),” Tech’s statement continued. “ However, the Rebels head coach (Mke Bianco) said his administration would not allow him to resume the game according to Bulldog head coach Lane Burroughs.”
Burroughs was visibly miffed following the game and voiced his displeasure in a dugout interview with a Monroe TV station.
After beating No. 4 Ole Miss Tuesday, Tech was on the precipice of winning its third straight over the Rebels, dating back to 2021 when they beat Ole Miss in Ruston.
The Bulldogs took an early lead when Ethan Bates homered to center to give Tech a 1-0 lead. In the fourth inning the Dogs went up 3- 0 when Walker Burchfield, a Mississippi product, launched a two-run bomb to right center that brought Jorge Corona home.
The Bulldogs couldn’t get the shutdown inning in the bottom of the fourth when Ole Miss, averaging 11 runs a game through its first seven, got the bats going and put up its first multi-run inning of the series. Kemp Alderman led off with his fourth homer of the year, then hot hitting Anthony Calarco walked; that was all for Tech righty Nick Fraginals, the freshman from Miami getting his first start. With Alec Sparks on in relief, the Rebels got a walk and, and with runners on Ryan Harland got the final out.
Ole Miss center fielder Ethan Groff (. 357, 13 RBI and 10 hits in eight games) homered off Harland for a 4-3 Ole Miss lead in the fifth before Tech scored twice in the seventh prior to the rain and lightning.
In the top of the seventh, Logan McLeod doubled, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a Bates sacrifice fly, his second RBI of the game. A hustling Brody Drost scored when Dalton Davis lined a 1-2 pitch off the wall in right center for a 5-4 Tech lead.
Play was halted with Corona at the plate, the count 2-0, and Davis on third with two outs.
Tech returns to the Love Shack for games tonight (6 p.m.), Saturday (2 p. m.) and Sunday (noon) against Northwestern of the Big Ten.
