Courtesy of LA Tech and GSU Athletic Communications
Tech Baseball
The Diamond ‘Dogs (25-15, 10-4 CUSA) secured their 10th Conference USA win and sixth-straight series win after defeating Liberty (24-16, 6-9 CUSA), 4-3, in a tight affair played at the Love Shack on Saturday.
Tech won Thursday’s opener 7-6 in dramatic fashion, scoring three runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, while then falling 5-3 in Friday’s second game.
The Bulldogs’ 10-4 record puts them half a game back from a tie for the top spot in the conference, which is currently shared by Western Kentucky and Dallas Baptist who are both currently 11-4 in league play.
“I’m just extremely proud of our guys,” said Tech head coach Lane Burroughs. “I say this all the time; it’s not who you play, it’s when you play them. I’m not taking anything away from Liberty-they’ve got a fine club, they’re coached very well.
“But we didn’t play good all weekend and still found a way to win the series, and that’s the sign of a good club. Pitching, offense, defense-we just didn’t play good. It was one of those weekends where it wasn’t our weekend, but we still found a way to win it.”
In the decisive game 3 of the series, Luke Nichols earned his fourth win of the season after tossing three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and one walk while fanning four batters. Blake Hooks earned his CUSA-leading seventh save after pitching the last two innings without allowing a run on a hit, four walks and a strikeout.
LA Tech’s offense got going early on in the first frame after Trey Hawsey smashed his fifth homer of the season over the videoboard in right field, ripping the ball 395 feet at an exit velocity of 109 miles per hour
The Bulldogs’ 10-4 record puts them half a game back from a tie for the top spot in the conference, which is currently shared by Western Kentucky and Dallas Baptist who are both currently 11-4 in league play.
Nichols earned his fourth win of the season after tossing three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing one hit and one walk while fanning four batters. Blake Hooks earned his CUSA-leading seventh save after pitching the last two innings without allowing a run on a hit, four walks and a strikeout.
LA Tech’s offense got going early on in the first frame after Hawsey smashed his fifth homer of the season over the videoboard in right field, ripping the ball 395 feet at an exit velocity of 109 miles per hour.
Liberty was held to just three hits for the remainder of the game after the fifth, and did not score a run despite putting at least one runner in scoring position in each of the final three innings. Coates, Hawsey and Houston all posted multi-hit performances with Hawsey driving in two of the team’s four runs on the day.
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GSU Baseball
For the second game in a row, the Grambling State University baseball eclipsed to the 20-run plateau, defeating Alcorn State 22-7 in seven innings on Friday night at Wilbert Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park.
The Tigers won the opener 21-4 and then secured the sweep of the series Saturday with a 15-4 victory.
Just like in the series opener, GSU (18-19 overall, 13-5 SWAC) blasted three home runs in a 16-hit effort.
Terry Burrell III had one of his strongest performances of the season, going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, seven RBI and two stolen bases.
In total, six Tigers racked up multi-hit games. Nyan Hayes went 2-for-6 with a triple and a home run. Trey Bridges, Cameron Hill, Chenar Brown, Shannon Martin all went 2-for-4. Bridges and Brown both drove in a pair of runs with Bridges adding a home run and Brown tacking on a double to his stat line. Martin picked up three RBI and hit a double.
GSU starter Randy Reyes (3-3) notched his second consecutive win after pitching 4.1 innings, surrendering five runs on fours, He struck out two and walked four.
Leading 3-0 in the bottom of the second, Hayes’ solo homer extended GSU’s lead to 4-0.
The Tigers opened a double-digit lead with a six-run four inning. An RBI double by Burrell began the fourth inning onslaught. With runners on second and third, Brown ripped a two-RBI double to make it a 7-0 game. After an RBI single by Marcellus, Martin helped GSU push its lead to 10-0 with an RBI single roped up the middle of the infield.
Alcorn State (5-28, 1-15 SWAC) tried to make it interesting in the fifth inning, shrinking Grambling State’s lead to 10-5.
The G-Men responded with six runs in the bottom of the frame to take a 16-5 advantage. Bridges’ two-run home run highlighted the GSU half of the fifth.
With Grambling ahead 19-6 in the sixth, Burrell smashed a mammoth three-run homer to left field to make it 22-6. ASU added one run in the top of the seventh but couldn’t avoid the run-rule loss.
Jaylon Burrell led Alcorn State at the plate going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI.
Jermel Ford (0-9) was charged with the loss for the Braves. Gave up 10 runs on eight hits. He struck out three and walked three.
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Tech Softball
Louisiana Tech softball completed a three-game Conference USA sweep of Kennesaw State after blanking the Owls 6-0 on Saturday afternoon at Bailey Park. The win moves the Bulldogs to 28-18 (14-7 CUSA).
Tech won Thursday’s opener 4-0 behind another CG shutout by Floyd and then outscored the Owls 11-6 in Friday’s second game thanks to a 5-RBI effort by Alexis Gilio.
On Saturday, Floyd tossed a complete-game shutout in the circle while Nicole Hammoude finished 4-for-4 at the plate with five RBI. The Bulldogs outhit the Owls 10-6 in the win.
Gilio had a two-hit day the at the plate, while Allie Furr, Reagan Marchant, Alannah Rogers, and Kaylee Grealy finished with one hit apiece.
Floyd (20-9) went the distance in the circle as she tossed a seven-inning complete game. She struck out eight while walking just two. She became the 18th Bulldog softball player to earn 20-wins in a single season in program history.
Her 12 wins in C-USA only play also ties Audrey Pickett (2022) for the most ever by a Bulldog pitcher.
The Bulldogs used three consecutive doubles to take an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Gilio recorded a two-out double, followed by Marchant who doubled home Gilio to make it 1-0 LA Tech. Hammoude hit a third straight double to score Marchant to make it 2-0.
After a scoreless second inning, Furr singled up the middle to start the top of the third and would advance to second on a wild pitch. Hammoude connected on a double to left field to score Furr, giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs would leave five runners stranded across the next three frames, but Hammoude was able to clear the bases with a three-run home run in the top of the seventh to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. Gilio singled to start to frame, followed by a walk to Marchant to put two runners on for Hammoude. Hammoude connected on her eighth home run of the season while giving the Bulldogs three insurance runs late.
Floyd worked around a double in the bottom of the seventh as she used a groundout, a pop up, and flyout to secure the complete game win.
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GSU Softball
Grambling State was unable to complete the sweep on Saturday, dropping both games of a doubleheader to Arkansas–Pine Bluff at the GSU Softball Complex. After a back-and-forth 7-6 loss in game one, the Lady Tigers came up short in the finale, falling 6-4.
The Tigers won the opener in the series 16-1 on Friday.
Despite scoring three runs in the first and holding a 6-4 lead through four innings, Grambling State (15-22, 8-9) couldn’t hold off a late UAPB (12-27, 7-14) rally.
Ahsunte’ Specks and Kamryn Broussard each had two hits, while Katelynn Walls went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Deija Russell doubled and drove in a run, and Aniyah Lee delivered a clutch two-RBI single in the first.
Erin Gibbs (3-4) took the loss after allowing seven runs (four earned) on 11 hits in six innings. Audrey Richardson pitched a clean seventh in relief.
UAPB’s Angelina Broughton powered the Golden Lions with a three-run homer in the third and added an RBI double in the sixth to complete a five-RBI performance.
In the series finale, Grambling saw UAPB take an early lead and couldn’t claw back in time.
The Golden Lions built a 5-0 lead through three innings, capped by a grand slam from Laila Perry in the third.
Specks responded with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning, and the Lady Tigers added a run in the fourth on a Russell groundout.
Grambling rallied again in the seventh with an RBI sacrifice bunt from Tavia Leadon and an RBI single from Z’Natria Evans, but the comeback fell short.
Specks finished 1-for-4 with a homer and one runs scored, while Evans had two hits and an RBI.
Broussard collected two more hits and scored once. Chloe Wilson pitched 4.1 innings in relief, allowing just one run after replacing starter Audrey Richardson (6-6), who took the loss.
