Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Baseball
The Diamond ‘Dogs (4-0) host the McNeese Cowboys (1-2) tonight for their first midweek contest of the new season and the first of a two-game home-and-home split between the two sides at the Love Shack.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
Wednesday’s contest marks the 128th meeting between LA Tech and McNeese, with the first contest dating back to 1970 when the Cowboys won the season series, 3-1. The Bulldogs won the last meeting in 2024, 13-4, and have secured victories in four of their last five meetings. Tech has seven-straight home wins when playing McNeese and are 10-2 against the Cowboys at the Love Shack since 2012.
The Diamond ‘Dogs got off to a 4-0 start for the third-straight year and the seventh time in the Lane Burroughs era since 2017. With those four weekend wins, Burroughs is now just two wins shy of tying Barry Hinton for the second-most coaching wins in LA Tech baseball history.
Graduate transfer Colby Lunsford found his stride at the plate immediately in his debut as a Bulldog. The ULM transfer batted .600 throughout the four-game weekend series vs Houston Christian with six runs, three doubles, and two home runs.
Cade Patterson was among an elite group on Opening Day as well, belting two grand slams in the season opener and ending the weekend with a .400 average, 5 runs and a team-high 12 RBIs to lead the conference at the start of the season. Patterson was the first Bulldog to hit two grand slams in a game since TJ Soto in 2000, both of which he hit in the same inning.
Florida State transfer Hudson Rowan and reigning CUSA Freshman of the Year Brooks Roberson both earned wins in their first starts of the year on the mound.
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Men’s Basketball
After splitting its road trip last week, Louisiana Tech is back home to host Jacksonville State tonight inside the Thomas Assembly Center on Karl Malone Court. The Bulldogs are set to play three of their next four games in Ruston.
Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
LA Tech (14-11, 7-7) was on the verge of collecting a road sweep, but the Bulldogs ran out of gas the latter part of the second half in a 77-64 loss to FIU this past Saturday in Miami. LA Tech was clicking on all cylinders through the first eight minutes of the second stanza, building a five-point lead over FIU. However, the Panthers controlled the rest of the ball game, outscoring the Bulldogs 30-12 the rest of the way, which snapped LA Tech’s six-game winning streak over FIU.
Despite the loss, LA Tech stayed in a tie for fourth in the league standings with six conference games remaining. The Bulldogs are in a three-way tie with WKU and Missouri State, only two games back of second and one game back of third-place Jacksonville State.
Jacksonville State (13-12, 8-6) had a hot stretch of winning five of six conference games. However, the Gamecocks dropped their last two contests this past week to UTEP and New Mexico State, both at home.
Despite the losses, Jax State sits alone in third in the league standings with six games to play. Four of their last six contests will be on the road. They are 3-3 in road conference games.
Jax State operates with one of the top defenses in the league, ranking top 30 in the country in several statistical categories including scoring defense (66.9), field goal percentage defense (39.7), and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.1).
