C-USA Tournament Recap - Day 2
HATTIESBURG (MS) - Conference USA baseball action continued on Thursday as four games were played, the last ending a minute after midnight on Friday morning.
Southern Miss and Rice remain as the only two undefeated teams in the field.
La Tech 13 Charlotte 3
For the first two days of the 2016 Conference USA Baseball Championship, Louisiana Tech has swung a potent bat. Thursday morning, the fifth-seeded Bulldogs got a piece of pitching to match their performance at the plate.
With left fielder Raphael Gladu and third baseman Chase Lunceford supplying a potent one-two punch, Tech got a complete-game effort from right-hander Casey Sutton to knock out Charlotte, 13-3, in a 10-run-rule-shortened elimination game at Pete Taylor Park.
Florida International 3 Old Dominion 1
Extra innings have not been kind to Old Dominion the past few years when it comes to elimination baseball. Seventh-seeded FIU scored twice to break a tie in the top of the 11th inning and claim a 3-1 victory in an elimination bracket game Thursday afternoon at the 2016 Conference USA Baseball Championship at Pete Taylor Park.
Sixth-seeded ODU, which exited the 2015 baseball tournament with a 2-0 loss in 12 innings to Southern Miss, loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the 11th inning, but catcher Kyle Beam popped out to second base and designated hitter Will Morgan to not only end the game but the Monarchs' season.
Rice 6 Florida Atlantic 4
Florida Atlantic closer Cameron Ragsdale had not allowed a run to Conference USA competition while tossing 21 consecutive scoreless innings coming into Thursday afternoon's baseball game with Rice. But fourth-seeded Rice scaled Mount Ragsdale, pushing top-seeded FAU out of the winners' bracket and giving itself a day of rest Friday.
Third baseman Connor Teykl tied the game with a single in the ninth, and Rice scored twice more against Ragsdale in the 10th to take a come-from-behind, 6-4 victory in 10 innings at Taylor Park.
Southern Miss 9 Marshall 3
After earning a day of rest, Southern Miss will have quite the crowded agenda come the weekend. With Thursday night’s 9-3 victory over second-seeded Marshall at Pete Taylor Park, the third-seeded Golden Eagles will vie for one win on Saturday that would give them a spot in Sunday’s championship game of the 2016 Conference USA Baseball Championship.