Bulldog Baseball Sweeps Middle Tennessee
Louisiana Tech completed a dominant weekend sweep of Middle Tennessee, taking the finale 5-3 Sunday at the Love Shack to extend its winning streak to six games.
The Diamond ’Dogs (21-16, 9-6 CUSA) capped the series after winning 8-1 Friday and 8-2 Saturday, marking their second Conference USA sweep of the season and first home series win since mid-March.
“I’m just extremely proud of our guys,” said head coach Lane Burroughs. “We say it all the time in our program-Sunday is about toughness, and we call it Championship Sunday. Because you’re trying to get a sweep, you’re trying to avoid getting swept, or you’re trying to win a series. Today wasn’t pretty, it was gritty. We said it last week at FIU. We’ll take gritty over pretty any day of the week.”
Middle Tennessee struck first in the opener Sunday, but Louisiana Tech answered quickly with a three-run first inning. Casey McCoy opened the scoring with an RBI triple, Cade Patterson added a run-scoring groundout, and Colby Lunsford capped the frame with an RBI single to give Tech a 3-1 lead.
The Blue Raiders tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth, capitalizing on a walk, an infield hit, a double, a sacrifice fly and an error.
The deadlock held until the seventh when Tech broke through again. Lunsford doubled, Trey Hawsey reached on a walk, and Colton Coates delivered a go-ahead RBI single to put the Bulldogs ahead for good at 4-3. Tech added an insurance run before closing out the sweep.
Riley Fisher earned the win in relief, working a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. Thomas Allen recorded his second save of the season, throwing the final two innings and allowing just one hit while inducing five groundouts.
Louisiana Tech set the tone earlier in the series with back-to-back wins. The Bulldogs broke open Friday’s 8-1 victory behind a five-run inning and added 12 hits. Saturday followed with another 8-2 win, highlighted by a two-run home run from Colton Coates and a six-run sixth inning.
Across the three games, Tech outscored Middle Tennessee by a wide margin while consistently delivering late-inning production, including multiple decisive rallies in the middle innings.
The Bulldogs return to action after completing their first sweep at home since March.
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Southern Sweeps Tigers in Baseball
Southern completed a Southwestern Athletic Conference series sweep of Grambling State, taking three close contests over the weekend at Wilbert Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park, including a 7-5 win Friday, a 7-6 victory Saturday and a 13-11, 10-inning thriller Sunday.
Southern Jaguars (14-20, 8-7 SWAC) opened the series Friday with early offense and late pitching to hold off a Grambling rally. The Jaguars built a 4-0 lead through two innings and pushed the margin to 7-1 before Grambling State (11-23, 8-7 SWAC) surged in the eighth. Aidan Lopez delivered a three-run triple during a five-run frame, but Southern reliever Caleb Ellis closed out the final outs to preserve the win.
Saturday featured a pregame ceremony honoring former Grambling State star and MLB All-Star Ralph Garr, who had his jersey retired before first pitch. The Tigers then jumped ahead 3-0 in the second inning and extended the lead to 5-2 in the third behind RBI hits from Lopez and Trey Bridges. Southern responded with a four-run sixth inning to take control 7-5, and despite a late push, including a bases-loaded walk in the seventh, the Jaguars held on for the series-clinching win.
Sunday turned into a back-and-forth offensive battle featuring five lead changes and 24 combined runs. Southern erased an early six-run deficit and later answered a late Grambling lead with three runs in the ninth to force extra innings. In the 10th, the Jaguars broke through on a two-run single to secure the sweep.
Grambling State exploded for a seven-run fourth inning and briefly led 9-8, then regained an 11-8 advantage in the eighth. Lopez finished with a 3-for-7 day and three RBIs, while Bridges went 3-for-3 with three walks and two runs scored. Chris Marcellus also contributed multiple hits and key runs in the rally effort, but Southern’s late offense proved decisive.
Across the series, Southern consistently capitalized on extra opportunities and late-inning scoring, while Grambling State produced 29 total runs but was unable to close out any of the three tightly contested games.
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Tech Softball Drops Series to FIU
Louisiana Tech dropped a Conference USA softball series to FIU after a 4-3 loss Friday, a 6-3 win Saturday and a 5-3 defeat Sunday at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
“The first six innings (Sunday) I did not see much of anything, except for no energy and not a lot of compete,” said head coach Josh Taylor. “I have asked them, as we go down this stretch, to just compete…that is what you have left, to just compete. I did not see a lot of that in the first six innings.
“I liked what I saw in the seventh inning and we can talk about that in a minute, but you have to be able to compete at a high level every single day at this level and right now, we are confused on who we are and what we are, and it is very disappointing to me.”
The Panthers struck first in the opener Friday, using a two-run home run in the third inning before adding a run in the fifth on an error and a leadoff solo home run in the sixth. Louisiana Tech answered with a run in the third on an RBI groundout by Allie Furr and tied the game in the fifth behind a three-hit inning capped by a sacrifice fly from Bradi Gallaway, but FIU reclaimed the lead on the sixth-inning homer. Gracie Flores finished with three hits, while Furr added two in the 4-3 loss.
Louisiana Tech responded Saturday with a power surge, hitting three home runs in a 6-3 win. FIU again opened strong with a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the third, but Tech cut into the deficit with back-to-back homers from Gallaway and Reagan Marchant in the third.
Gallaway tied the Tech freshman home run record with her 10th, tying Morgan Turkoly (2016).
The Bulldogs took the lead in the fourth with RBI production from Furr and Aleah Brooks, then extended it in the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly by Furr after Elena Heng tripled. Marchant added her second home run of the day in the sixth. Laney Johnson earned the win, while Bryannah Campos recorded a three-inning save.
FIU controlled early offense again in Sunday’s finale, building a 4-0 lead through four innings behind three home runs and a run-scoring groundout. Louisiana Tech chipped away with solo home runs from Marchant in the fifth and seventh, but the Panthers added an insurance run in the sixth.
The Bulldogs mounted a two-out rally in the seventh with RBI singles from Furr and others to trim the deficit to 5-3 before the game ended on a baserunning out with two runners aboard. FIU outhit Tech 12-8, while Allie Floyd took the loss and Bryannah Campos worked the final 3.2 innings in relief.
The Bulldogs finished the series 1-2, dropping to 22-21 overall and 8-10 in Conference USA.
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Grambling Softball Swept by Prairie View A&M
Prairie View A&M swept a three-game series from Grambling State over the weekend at the GSU Softball Complex, winning 9-5 and 15-5 in Friday’s doubleheader before closing the set with a 15-2 victory Saturday.
In Friday’s opener, Grambling State (13-23) struck first with a three-run first inning behind RBI hits from Z’Natria Evans and Alexis Hope to take a 3-2 lead. Logan-Ray Gaspar led the Lady Tigers at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI as Grambling added runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Prairie View A&M (22-14) stayed within striking distance before breaking the game open with a six-run sixth inning to secure the 9-5 win.
In Game 2, Prairie View jumped out quickly with two runs in the first and five in the second to take control. Grambling responded with an RBI single from Ziya Donaldson in the second and added another run in the third on aggressive baserunning. Donaldson and Gaspar each drove in runs, while Kamryn Broussard scored twice, but Prairie View pulled away with an eight-run fifth inning to win 15-5.
In Saturday’s finale, Prairie View again set the tone early, scoring two runs in the first and four in the second to build a 6-0 lead before extending it with three more runs in the third. Grambling State got on the board in the second on an RBI double by Donaldson, scoring Gaspar, and added another run in the third when Ahsunte’ Specks drove in Broussard. Prairie View put the game out of reach in the fourth with a six-run inning, highlighted by a two-run home run from Jordan Franklin, to seal the 15-2 win.
Donaldson and Specks each recorded RBIs for Grambling in the finale. Jaidan Richard took the loss for the Lady Tigers, while Yazmyn Stewart earned the win for Prairie View.
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