Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
The Diamond ‘Dogs (7-1) are set to host the Northwestern State Demons (5-3) tonight at 6 p.m. at JC Love Field at Pat Patterson Park. This will be the first time the two clubs have met since 2024 and will be the 142nd all-time meeting.
Today’s contest is the first of three occasions the ‘Dogs and NSU take the field together in 2026, with Tech traveling to Natchitoches on Tuesday, April 7 and concluding the season series on Tuesday, May 5 at JC Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
Tonight’s contest can be seen on ESPN+.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 3-0 sweep at the Grind City Classic in Memphis this past weekend, opening with a massive 6-0 shutout win over Ohio State on Friday for Tech’s first nine-inning shutout since the 2024 season with a 12-0 shutout over Creighton.
The ‘Dogs followed up with an 8-5 win over Memphis on Saturday and concluded the weekend with a 9-3 win against the Buckeyes, marking two Power 4 wins in a single season for the first time since 2022 for Tech. Declan Dahl and Hudson Rowan combined for 11 shutout innings this weekend with both pitchers improving to 2-0 on the year.
Brooks Roberson was effective in his start in the weekend finale, allowing two earned runs while scattering four hits and three walks across 5.1 innings of work while picking up six strikeouts.
Hawsey, who was named Conference USA’s Hitter of the Week Monday afternoon, batted .636 during the weekend in Memphis with two doubles, a homer, five runs scored, five RBI and an OPS of 1.758.
Colby Lunsford carries an eight-game hitting streak into Tuesday’s game with a league-high .483 average and is second in CUSA with a 1.069 slugging percentage and a 1.640 OPS. The ULM transfer also leads the conference with 14 hits and is top 10 in runs scored (12), on-base percentage (.571), RBIs (10) and doubles (5).
The Bulldog third baseman also ranks in the NCAA Division I Top 25 in doubles (8th), base hits (22nd), home runs (14th), slugging percentage (18th) and is also 27th with runs scored and holds a top-70 batting average in the country.
The last time the ‘Dogs and Demons faced each other dates back to 2024, when NSU won a midweek clash in Natchitoches, 11-5, before getting swept by Tech in Ruston in a three-game weekend series. The first two games of the weekend saw tightly-contested matchups, with Tech winning 11-9 and 7-5 before showcasing the offense in a dominant 15-5 run-rule victory in eight innings in the series finale.
Tech has won six of the last 10 games played against the Demons on their home field, suffering their last home loss to NSU during the 2023 season, 10-7 in an 11-inning thriller. However, their previous 10 overall matchups have been split at five wins each.
Northwestern State is coming off a series loss to Central Arkansas, winning just one of their four games in Conway, Arkansas last weekend. The Bears won the series opener, 5-4, and the first of Saturday’s doubleheader, 3-2.
The Demons secured a 5-2 victory in the second doubleheader contest but failed to even the series on Sunday, falling to UCA by a score of 13-5.
Brock Davis and Thomas Marsala III are tied for the team lead with 12 bases hits, nine runs and three homers. Davis leads the team with a .387 average, 1.255 OPS, .742 slugging percentage and a .513 on-base percentage. Davis, a freshman from Hammond, picked up his second multi-hit game and first four-hit performance in the second game at UCA with two runs scored and a homer.
Colin Rains, along with Davis, are the only two Demon hitters with an average above .350 entering the week. NSU has just four stolen bases on five attempts, with two being swiped by Brooks Leonard and the remaining two belonging to Joe Siervo.
The Demons are projected to start left-handed pitcher Jacob LeBlanc on the mound, who holds a 0.00 ERA and a 1-0 record so far this season. He’s made two appearances so far with 3.2 innings pitched, with three full innings in his first appearance of the season against UT Arlington. He allowed just three hits and struck out a batter en route to his first career victory.
