By Brian Allen

Sports Writer

A thrilling home doubleheader produced two-straight wins for Tech baseball against Western Athletic Conference foe Fresno State University on Sunday, following a loss on Friday night.

Tech (15-31, 6-14 WAC) played the doubleheader Sunday because Saturday's contest was postponed due to rain, and the Bulldogs won both games 6-5 and 13-12, respectively. However, Tech dropped the opening game on Friday night 12-10.

Solid pitching and timely hitting were key for the Bulldogs in Sunday's final game. Clayton Meyer (4-5) pitched eight and 1/3 innings, giving up four earned runs. Mims Boyce and WAC Player of the Week Jeff Walker both had three hits to help the Bulldog's cause.

"Meyer gave us an outstanding outing again and kept us in the game as he usually does," the Bulldogs' head coach Wade Simoneaux said. "All our guys really swung the bats well all the way down the lineup and battled at the plate this past weekend."

Tech jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning on a Kyle Spangler single to right field.

Fresno scored four unanswered runs in the duration of the third and fourth innings to take a 4-1 lead.

Tech started a comeback in the sixth inning off of Spangler's two-run homerun blast down the left field line which pumped up the crowd and cut the Fresno lead to 4-3.

The Bulldog's comeback became complete in the seventh inning when Boyce crushed a two-run homerun to left field to give Tech a 5-4 lead going into the final two innings.

After Fresno tied the game at 5-5 in the eighth inning, the game was set up for Tech's taking in the ninth inning.

Brandon Haygood led off the Bulldogs in the ninth inning with a walk. Haygood advanced on a sacrifice and eventually scored on a Fresno error, giving Tech the much needed 6-5 victory.

Tech and Fresno combined for 25 runs on 34 hits in Sunday's first game which lasted almost four hours.

"Both teams were aggressive at the plate this weekend and ready to swing the bats," Simoneaux said.

Mitch Tucker (3-4) was the starting pitcher for Tech and only lasted three and 2/3 innings, giving up seven earned runs on nine hits. Fresno took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on four hits.

However, Tech took a 3-2 lead after two innings because of aggressiveness at the plate, which resulted in four singles and one double.

Then Tech and Fresno stepped up their hitting again in dramatic fashion in the fourth and fifth innings, but Tech's five runs scored did not compare to Fresno's eight runs scored in the middle innings, which made the score 11-8 in favor of Fresno.

The Bulldogs showed their fight in an eighth-inning rally started by Haygood's single to right field. Tech scored five runs on six hits in the inning to make the score 13-12, and the bullpen would secure the win.

Tech's relief pitchers Brody Love and Chris Herron threw the final four and 1/3 innings for Tech, giving up a combined one earned run on two hits.

"Love and Herron did a decent job in relief for us, and that is all we could have asked for," Simoneaux said.

The series opener Friday night proved to be a highly explosive offensive battle as both teams were in double digits in runs and hits for the game.

Tech led 7-3 after three innings, and a homerun to left field by Will Wade in third inning put a stamp on the offensive outburst by the Bulldogs in the first three innings.

Fresno, who leads the WAC in batting average .304, demonstrated their high-powered attack by scoring eight runs in the fourth and fifth innings together to make the score 11-7.

Tech's pitching would hold Fresno's hitters to one run in the final three innings of the game and give the Bulldogs the chance for a rally.

Bulldogs' attempted the come-from-behind victory, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but Tech fell short and dropped the first game of the series.