Two more teams were eliminated on day three both at the hands of Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs knocked off two of the three regular season tri-champions and did so in rather convincing fashion. Louisiana Tech defeated top seed New Mexico State 15-12, surviving a late comeback by the Aggies who after trailing 15-6 scored six in the top of the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate with two outs. The Bulldogs then trounced 3-seed Nevada 18-5 in a seven inning run-rule shortened game to advance to Saturday’s final losers bracket elimination game. They’ll face Fresno State who was defeated in the WAC tournament for just the fourth time since 2006. The Bulldogs lost 8-3 to 2-seed Sacramento State who continued their impressive play. The win puts the Hornets, picked to finish last in the league, in the tournament’s championship game on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. (PDT) and they’ll have two shots at winning the league’s automatic bid.
Game Nine – 3:00 p.m. (PDT)
#5 Fresno State (27-26) vs. #6 Louisiana Tech (27-27)
These two teams were both in danger of missing the WAC Tournament at the midway point as Fresno State posted a 2-7 record and Louisiana Tech posted a 1-8 record, however, both teams now stand just one win from reaching the conference championship game where whichever team advances will need to defeat Sacramento State twice to win the autobid.
Louisiana Tech has the hottest offense in the tournament right now having scored 45 runs in their four games and a whopping 33 of those runs yesterday. Fresno State’s offense started off with a bang scoring 15 runs against New Mexico State but faltering last night scoring just three. This is LA Tech’s fifth game of the tournament while it’s just Fresno State’s third so the pitching advantage would figure to be in Fresno State’s corner, however, the southern Bulldogs appeared to be at the disadvantage in both games yesterday but made it a moot point by dominating offensively. Fresno State may have the tradition behind them in the tournament but Louisiana Tech has all the momentum having won three consecutive elimination games.
Projected Winner: Louisiana Tech
Game Ten – 7:00 p.m. (PDT)
#1 Sacramento State vs. Game Seven Winner
The Hornets were picked to finish last in the regular season but shared the regular season title and now they’re the last of the tri-champs standing. Their dominance through two games has been a bit surprising, not many expected them to be in this position but they blasted Nevada 15-5 and dominated Fresno State jumping out to an 8-0 lead before allowing three late runs in an 8-3 victory. The Hornets will be fresh and waiting for either Fresno State or Louisiana Tech. The only question that remains is whether the Hornets will be able to handle the moment and the opportunity that lies before them.
Projected Winner: Sacramento State
