Courtesy of LA Tech Communications
RUSTON – The Diamond ‘Dogs (8-1) secured their fourth consecutive win Tuesday night at the Love Shack, defeating Northwestern State (5-4), 8-5, in the first of three matchups the two programs are slated for this year.
The ‘Dogs’ 8-1 record is tied for their best start through the first nine games in the Lane Burroughs era, as well as just the third time LA Tech has started 8-1 or better since the 1984 season.
“Anytime we play Northwestern State, it’s going to be a battle. We knew that going in—we told our guys that they were going to come in here with their hair on fire,” Tech Head Coach Lane Burroughs said. “They have a good club and are coached very well. Obviously, our last midweek against McNeese didn’t go the way we wanted, and tonight had a similar start to that. We get a homer to start it off, Landon Fontenot pitched extremely well as our opener with his three innings. It was giving that same look as last week, but I thought our guys held firm and steady. I thought Coach [Cooper] Fouts did an unbelievable job with our bullpen tonight, the way he worked it. I thought our bullpen was electric. We had 13 strikeouts over three walks. I thought Thomas Allen was electric, the young freshman. He got the win tonight—two innings with five punchouts. Nate Crider was really good. When guys are throwing good like that, you don’t really need to make a move. Riley Fisher has started to work his way into that closer role, and he was electric as well. We had the big three-run inning in the third after Colton’s homer in the first. Eli Berch and Cade Patterson had big hits for us in that inning.
“It goes without saying that we played unbelievable defense—no errors again tonight. It was a grind, a tough game, and we really focused on our guys focusing on tonight. Everybody knows we have a big weekend with Southern Miss ranked 12th and they’re probably our biggest rival. It’s an opportunity for us to make some hay and make a name for ourselves, but very proud of our guys for showing up tonight. We played a lot better in this midweek, and you can’t just get up for weekends. At our level, you have to win the midweeks, and Northwestern State is a good team—we’ll play them two more times this year. Huge win for us, extremely proud of our guys and the focus they showed.”
The youth of Tech’s baseball team was the root of Tuesday night’s success, with freshman Thomas Allen earning his first win of the season in his second career relief appearance. The Benton native tossed two scoreless frames allowing just one hit and a walk while fanning five hitters. Freshman second baseman Casey McCoy made his presence known, putting the game out of reach for NSU with a massive 408-foot homer over the left field wall in the fourth inning, along with assisting on a double play.
Landon Fontenot recorded another efficient midweek start for the Bulldogs, tossing three scoreless innings for the second-straight time in 2026. The sophomore southpaw allowed just one hit and no walks with four strikeouts. Nate Crider kept the Demon offense at bay, starting the eighth inning off with a pair of strikeouts and ending it with a groundout on a 3-2 count.
Riley Fisher earned his first save as a Bulldog, striking out two batters in the ninth despite giving up a pair of singles.
The ‘Dogs struck the scoreboard first with their first at-bat, with Colton Coates belting his second homer of the season to lead off the game.
LA Tech added three runs to their lead in the third, with all three runs coming with two outs. Colby Lunsford started the scoring affair with a double to right center on an 0-1 count, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Sebastian Mexico followed with an RBI knock through the left side of the infield, allowing Lunsford a chance to score the second run of the game.
Lunsford came across on a tight play at the plate where he appeared to have been tagged out, but obstruction was called after an official review and the run was counted in Tech’s favor.
With Mexico advancing to second on the throw to home, Wesley Scott put a pair of runners on drawing a walk with Cade Patterson coming to bat. The redshirt sophomore outfielder delivered with an RBI single to center field on an 0-2 count before Eli Berch capped off the inning with his own base knock to center to make it a 4-0 game through three innings.
The Demons and Bulldogs exchanged runs in the fourth, with NSU scoring on a sacrifice fly before Tech matched it with McCoy’s solo homer to lead off the home half. Another sac fly from the Demons cut the lead to three for Tech, but it was not enough as NSU was held to just three hits scattered across the final four innings of the game.
The ‘Dogs extend their winning streak to four games over the Demons and have taken four of the last five contests when played at home.
LA Tech looks ahead to a three-game weekend series hosting the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, with the series opener set for Friday, February 27 at 6 p.m. at the Love Shack. This will be Tech’s first regular-season clash with a ranked opponent at home since 2022, when the ‘Dogs hosted #2 LSU at the Love Shack and defeated the Tigers 11-6 on February 23 that year.
