Courtesy of LA Tech & GSU Athletic Communications
Bulldogs 6, Ohio State 0 (Friday)
Bulldogs 8, Memphis 5 (Saturday)
Bulldogs 9, Ohio State 3 (Saturday)
Louisiana Tech went a perfect 3-0 in the Grind City Classic to improve to 7-1 after defeating Ohio State twice and host Memphis once during the two-day event.
Head coach Lane Burroughs moved into second place all-time in wins for a Bulldog baseball coach (317) with the win over Ohio State Saturday, moving past legendary Hall of Fame coach Berry Hinton.
“I’m just proud of our guys, especially in the response from the other night against McNeese,” said Burroughs. “That was the main message to the team was to respond this weekend, and I thought they did. We came in here and won all three games against two good teams, and two games against a Power 4 team.
“I appreciate the recognition for the second-most wins in LA Tech history, but none of those victories have I swung a bat or fielded a ball or much less thrown one. It’s all about those Jimmies and Joes, and it’s about surrounding yourself with great coaches and people who are a lot smarter and better than you. That’s one thing I have done very well in my career is hiring extremely good assistant coaches, and we’ve had the opportunity to coach some amazing players, and that’s what it’s all about.”
It was a slow start offensively for Memphis and Tech Saturday with three scoreless innings to start the game. The ‘Dogs struck first in the fourth after the first three batters of the inning reached safely to load the bases with no outs. Trey Hawsey was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame followed by back-to-back singles from Colby Lunsford and Sebastian Mexico.
With one out on the board, Cade Patterson drove in the first run of the game on a fielder’s choice to give Tech a 1-0 lead.
The side was retired in order for the ‘Dogs in the fifth and sixth innings before making it a 2-0 game in the seventh. Eli Berch led the inning off with a double to the left center gap before advancing on a sacrifice bunt and scoring on a passed ball by the Memphis catcher.
Memphis would put their first run on the board in the bottom half with a leadoff homer, but Tech answered back with a six-spot in the top of the eighth.
Casey McCoy led off with a base hit through the left side before finding himself on second with one out following a stolen base by the freshman second baseman. Hawsey drove in McCoy with a base hit through the right side and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Lunsford drew a walk and Mexico poked a base hit to shallow right field to load the bases.
A swinging strikeout gave the Tigers two outs with the bases loaded, but Cade Patterson delivered a clutch two-run double to the right field corner before Wesley Scott capped off the inning with a three-run blast over the right field wall for his first round-tripper as a Bulldog.
Memphis attempted a comeback in their half of the eighth, scoring four on a two-run homer, an error and an RBI base hit, but that’s all they would manage for the rest of the contest. Luke Nichols earned his second save of the season, pitching the ninth inning and getting a double play and strikeout to end the game.
Hudson Rowan was consistent in his second start on the mound, improving to 2-0 and maintaining a perfect 0.00 ERA on the year with six scoreless innings. The southpaw scattered three hits and a walk while striking out six batters.
Lunsford extended his hitting streak to seven games, and Drew Ferguson and Jackson Jones each picked up their first career strikeout on the mound. Mexico ended the Memphis game with three hits, his first of 2026 and sixth three-hit game as a Bulldog.
After blanking Ohio State Friday 6-0, the Bulldog offense was more impactful to start the second game of their Saturday afternoon against the Buckeyes, scoring seven runs across the first four innings and scoring at least one run in five of the eight innings the Bulldogs had a chance to bat.
Tech loaded the bases in the bottom half of the first with a leadoff walk by Colton Coates, a double from Hawsey and a four-pitch walk drawn by Lunsford. Mexico looked to drive in the first run with a fielder’s choice hit to third base, but Coates was called out on the force at home. The next at-bat, Scott put Tech on the board with a two-run base hit to the left center gap.
The bats continued to deliver for Burroughs’ offense with McCoy leading off with an infield single followed with Coates driving a two-bagger to right field to put runners on second and third with no outs. Hawsey made it a 3-0 game with a sac fly before Lunsford made it a four-run lead for the ‘Dogs with an RBI groundout.
Ohio State put themselves on the board in the top of the fourth with an RBI knock, but Tech’s offense showed no signs of slowing down with three more runs on the board in the home half of the inning. Coates ended up on second with a base hit and a fielding error by the Buckeye first baseman and scoring on an RBI double delivered by Hawsey.
Hawsey came around on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch before Mexico and Scott drew back-to-back walks followed with Patterson extending the lead to six runs with an RBI base knock.
The ‘Dogs and the Buckeyes exchanged runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to maintain the six-run gap. McCoy drove in a run on an RBI groundout in the sixth and Mexico plated a run in the seventh with a base hit to the left field line. Prior to Mexico’s hit, Lunsford extended his hitting streak to eight games with a one-out double pulled to left field and showcased his speed by scoring on Mexico’s batted ball.
Brooks Roberson improved to 2-0 on the mound, tossing 5 1/3 innings allowing two runs on four hits, three walks and striking out six Buckeye hitters. Kade Parker slammed the door on Ohio State in relief, tossing the final 2 1/3 innings of the game allowing no runs on two hits and picking up four strikeouts.
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Southern Miss 2, Bulldogs 1 (Friday)
Bulldogs 8, Southern Miss 0 (Saturday)
Bulldogs 4, Southern Miss 1 (Sunday)
Louisiana Tech took two out of three this weekend in a non-conference series against Southern Miss played at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
The Bulldogs (12-3) dropped Friday night’s game 2-1 before coming back and dominating Saturday and Sunday.
Senior Allie Floyd and freshman Bryannah Campos pitched complete games in the two wins, allowing only four hits and one unearned run during the 12 innings of action.
“They have a good ball club,” said Tech head coach Josh Taylor. “(Southern Miss pitcher Kayla) Giardina is really good. A little bit of life up, and you have to be on your game in order to score runs against her. The story of the game was Allie [Floyd]. She pitched really well…really, really well. No earned runs and just pretty much dominated.
“All of our pitchers were pretty solid during this series. Even in Friday night’s loss, we held them to two runs which should be enough to win a game.”
Floyd (4-1) tossed her second complete game in four days, going the distance against USM. The right-hander allowed one unearned run on three hits, two of which were bunt singles, while striking out seven and walking two across seven innings of work.
On the week. Floyd worked 20.0 innings, allowing three runs — one earned — on just eight singles while striking out 14 batters.
Freshman Bradi Gallaway saw her big week continue, as she led the Bulldogs at the plate with two hits and two RBI in the win. Elena Heng also finished with two hits while driving in one run. Reese Torres, Allie Furr, and Gracie Flores all finished with one hit apiece, while Furr drove in one run.
Hannah Christian of Southern Miss opened the game with a bunt single but was erased on a fielder’s choice at second. The Bulldogs then turned a double play on a flyout with Heng throwing out the runner at first to end the inning.
The Bulldogs broke the scoreless game in the third as Heng came around to score on a Gallaway single to left. Heng singled to start the inning and made her way to third on a sac bunt and a groundout. USM tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth after the leadoff batter reached on a fielding error and later scored on a sacrifice fly. She advanced into scoring position on a bunt and a sacrifice bunt.
Gallaway put the Bulldogs back in front, 2-1, in the bottom of the inning with a double to left-center that scored Jina Baffuto. Baffuto pinch ran for Gracie Flores, who singled to second base in the previous at-bat.
Tech added two runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth to take a 4-1 lead that would prove to hold. After a groundout and flyout to start the bottom half, Torres singled to right and later scored on a double to left-center by Furr. Heng followed with a single up the middle to plate Furr which extended LA Tech’s lead to three runs.
“We were able to get some timely hits,” said Taylor. “We talk about it all the time…that championship formula is great pitching, great defense and timely hitting, and we got most of that today.”
After allowing leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh, Floyd was able to induce a foul-out, flyout and line out to close the game.
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Tigers 6, South Carolina State 3
Tigers 5, MVSU 4
Lincoln University 3, Tigers 1
Tigers 3, Alabama State 2
Tigers 19, Alabama State 12
Grambling State’s offense erupted Sunday afternoon as the Tigers powered past Alabama A&M, 19-12 at the HBCU Classic at Williams Field to conclude the weekend with a 4-1 mark.
Grambling State wasted no time setting the tone plating six runs in the first inning.
Kamryn Broussard opened the scoring with an RBI single before Zoe Roland delivered a two-run single. Toni Purchas followed with a two-run double, and Hailey Hughes capped the inning with an RBI single to give the Tigers a commanding 6-1 lead.
The Tigers kept the pressure on with three more runs in the second and four in the third.
Logan-Ray Gaspar fueled the surge with a four-hit performance including a two-run single in the third that pushed the lead to 11-6. Roland also helped her own cause with an RBI double later in the inning.
After Alabama A&M made a push midway through the game, Grambling answered again in the fifth with a five-run frame.
Jada Carhee sparked the rally with an RBI double, Hughes added a sacrifice fly, and Broussard and Ziya Donaldson each drove in runs as the Tigers stretched the margin to 19-12.
Gaspar led the offensive explosion, going 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
Roland finished with two hits and three RBI while Purchas and Donaldson each collected two hits and two RBI. Grambling totaled 21 hits in the victory.
Roland (3-3) earned the win after tossing four innings in the circle. Jaidan Richard secured the save, working the final three innings.
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Southern 13, Tigers 3
Alabama State 14, Tigers 5
Tigers 8, Jackson State 7
Grambling State dropped a 14-5 decision to Alabama State on Saturday afternoon at Holman Stadium at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex as part of the Andre Dawson Classic in Vero Beach, Fla.
The Tigers, who feel 13-3 to Southern Friday, came back Sunday to defeat Jackson State 8-7.
On Saturday, the Hornets struck early with a five-run first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from J. Williams and an unearned run that pushed the early margin to 5-0. Alabama State added another run in the third and broke the game open with four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to build a 14-4 advantage through five frames.
The Tigers answered in the second inning with a four-run rally. Shannon Martin, Hasani Johnson and Aidan Lopez opened the frame with consecutive hits before Julio Vasquez launched a grand slam to left center, cutting the deficit to 5-4. Vasquez finished the day with four RBIs and drove in all four runs during the second-inning surge.
Grambling added its final run in the sixth inning. With the bases loaded, Cameron Hill drew a walk to bring home a run and trim the margin to 14-5.
Offensively, the Tigers collected 11 hits. Martin and Johnson each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Lopez added two hits and scored once. Trey Bridges and Martavius Thomas also recorded hits, and Vasquez’s grand slam was Grambling’s lone extra-base hit of the contest.
On the mound, starter Trent Shaw was tagged with the loss after allowing nine runs (eight earned) in 3.1 innings of work. Hampton Phillips and Trevor Esparza combined to throw 4.2 innings in relief, with Esparza striking out seven and not allowing a run over 3.1 frames.
