RUSTON, La. (AP) — Hunter Wells had two home runs, two doubles and nine RBIs and set the program hits record for No. 16 overall seed Louisiana Tech as the Bulldogs beat Rider 18-2 in a Ruston Regional opener on Friday night.
Wells passed TJ Soto (269, 1997-2000) on a two-run double in the second inning and capped his night with a grand slam in the Bulldogs’ nine-run eighth inning. He hit a two-run homer in the first inning and an RBI double in the fifth — his nine RBIs set a program record for a regional game.
Jonathan Fincher (8-3) allowed two runs and six hits in eight innings for Louisiana Tech (41-18).
The Bulldogs led 5-0 after the second inning and extended to 9-0 after five. Louisiana Tech will face No. 2 regional seed North Carolina State in the winners bracket on Saturday.
The No. 4 regional seed Broncs (23-17) scored both of their runs in the seventh inning. Rider faces No. 3 seed Alabama Saturday in a loser-out game. Pete Soporowski (6-3) got the loss in 1 2/3 innings for the Broncs.
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