Monday morning's 3:45 a.m. wake-up call can't come soon enough for the Louisiana Tech baseball team, which lost its 11th straight game on Sunday at San Jose State, 4-2. It marks the third straight conference weekend in which the Bulldogs have been swept and puts an end to a winless eight-game road trip.

If there is any positive to take from this weekend in the Western Athletic Conference, it would be that the Bulldogs (15-22, 2-16 WAC) did not fall any farther behind sixth-place New Mexico State, which suffered a sweep at home by league-leading Fresno State. Meanwhile, San Jose State (21-16, 12-11 WAC) has now won five in a row and could move into fourth place with a Hawaii loss.

Another positive the Bulldogs could take from the road trip would be the improved pitching over the better part of the last three games. Dylan Moseley (1-5) was charged with the loss in Sunday's game, but put together a solid start in which he pitched into the seventh inning, giving up four runs (three earned) on 10 hits. Jamey Bradshaw and Aaron Lorio combined to pitch the final two innings, limiting the Spartans to just one hit in relief.

Moseley's effort came on the heels of great pitching performances by Andrew Lassere and Luke Burnett on Saturday, who combined to hold San Jose State to just three runs (two earned) over 14.2 innings pitched. However, a lack of run support - Tech managed only eight runs in the four-game series - kept the `Dawgs from pulling out a victory on the road trip.

Tech did manage nine hits in Sunday's game as Adam Cobb and Jericho Jones had two apiece, and Drew Bunting had a pinch-hit single with a pair of RBI. But at least two scoring opportunities went by the wayside thanks to double plays, and the Bulldogs combined to strike out 12 times in the contest. Tech had trouble putting the ball in play consistently all weekend, striking out a total of 40 times in the four-game series.

The Bulldogs led off the game with a pair of singles by Cobb and Nick Grunenwald, but Kevin Winn grounded into a double play to erase a pair of runners. A walk to Jones put runners at the corners, but they would be left there when Albie Goulder flied out to center field to end the inning.

San Jose would threaten in the first, but a pair of great defensive plays - one by Grunenwald at short and another by Goulder and Clint Ewing to gun down a runner at the plate - kept the Spartans off the board by making them pay for aggressive baserunning.

Neither team would threaten again until the fourth inning when a wild pitch from Moseley advanced runners to second and third with one out. With the infield playing on the grass, Alex Sofranac lined a single up the middle that would have otherwise been an easy double-play ball, scoring a pair of runs to make it 2-0.

Moseley would make one of the best defensive plays of the year in the sixth. With one out and a runner at third, the Spartans attempted a suicide squeeze with Jacob Shaffer at the plate. Shaffer could not get the bunt down fast enough, and Moseley made a diving catch about halfway between the mound and home plate. With the runner from third having already crossed the plate, Moseley ran over and tagged third base for the inning-ending, unassisted double play.

It would prove to be a spark as the Bulldogs finally found some offense in the seventh. A pair of singles from Chris Kersten and Goulder, followed by a sacrifice bunt from Patrick Thomas, put runners at second and third with two out. Bunting then pinch-hit for Ewing and made the most of his opportunity, looping a base hit down the left-field line to score Kersten and Goulder, tying the game at 2-2. A single by Stubbs would move pinch-runner Chris Juneau into scoring position and would chase Spartan starter Scott Sobczak from the game. But Cobb could not come through, striking out to end the inning.

The momentum for Tech, however, would be short-lived. A leadoff double, a walk and a wild pitch brought up Jason Martin, who singled through the right side to score Kyle Bellows and give SJSU a 3-2 lead. An error by Grunenwald at shortstop loaded the bases for the Spartans and brought Jamey Bradshaw into the game for Tech. He would induce a ground ball to short, and Grunenwald came home to get the force for the first out. Aaron Lorio then entered to face the righthander Corey Valine, striking him out on a 1-2 fastball. But a bases-loaded walk would give the Spartans an insurance run before a groundout would end the inning.

San Jose reliever Jack Adams would be lights-out over the final two-plus innings, striking out six of the eight batters he faced to get the win in relief.

Monday will be a travel day for the Bulldogs as they will leave the Bay Area early in the morning and arrive in Ruston around 9 p.m. Weather permitting, Tech will play its first home game in more than two weeks on Wednesday night as in-state rival Northwestern State comes calling for a non-conference matchup, the first such game for Tech in over a month.