Miami blues: Tech loses pair of games in extra innings

Nearly 12 hours of baseball, multiple leads blown and a weather day made up Louisiana Tech's Saturday afternoon and night in Miami.

And the Bulldogs have nothing to show for it.

Florida International swept Tech on Saturday as the Bulldogs dropped a 12-11 decision in 10 innings before losing the second game, 6-5, in 13 innings.

The day began at 2 p.m. local time and ended at 12:23 a.m. In between was nearly an hour weather delay, 55 hits, 34 runs and a ton of missed opportunities for the Bulldogs, including six errors. The first game took 4:53 to play while the second game lasted 4:20.

In the first game, Tech held leads of 6-0, 8-3, 10-4 and 11-6 before FIU scored six in the sixth and later forced free baseball. An RBI single sealed it for the Panthers.

Tech jumped out to an early 3-0 in the firth inning of the second game and led 4-1 after three. FIU tied it up in the fifth with a three-run inning and broke through with an RBI single in the 13th to complete the sweep.

To make matters worse, it's unclear who will even pitch for Tech in Sunday's 1 p.m. series finale. Laetten Galbraith is the normal Sunday starter, but he pitched 5 2/3 innings Saturday night, picking up the loss by allowing two runs — one earned — with five walks and four strikeouts. Tech's fourth starter, Braden Bristo, pitched 2 2/3 innings in the first game.

The starter will be a game-time decision and will likely become a pitcher-by-committee situation.