Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications Reports
The Diamond ’Dogs closed out the regular season by winning two of three games against Sam Houston at the Love Shack, securing the No. 5 seed for next week’s Conference USA Baseball Championship in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Louisiana Tech finished the regular season 33-23 overall and 19-11 in Conference USA play after dropping Saturday’s finale 6-0 to the Bearkats. The Bulldogs had already clinched the weekend series with wins of 2-1 on Thursday and 8-2 on Friday.
Tech will open tournament play against No. 8 seed Sam Houston on Wednesday at Mickey Dunn Stadium.
The Bulldogs opened the series Thursday with a pitchers’ duel before rallying late for a 2-1 win.
After Sam Houston grabbed a 1-0 lead on a solo home run in the third inning, Tech answered in the fifth when Casey McCoy launched a leadoff homer to tie the game.
The Bulldogs pushed across the go-ahead run an inning later as Wesley Scott doubled to open the sixth before Cade Patterson laid down a bunt single. McCoy followed with a deep fly ball to center field that easily scored Scott for the deciding run.
Declan Dahl turned in another strong start for Tech, striking out six over five innings while allowing one run. Luke Nichols earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief before freshman Thomas Allen recorded his fifth save of the season, striking out the side in the ninth inning.
Scott paced the Bulldogs offensively with his first three-hit game at Louisiana Tech while McCoy drove in both runs.
Tech carried that momentum into Friday night, clinching the series with an 8-2 victory powered by a pair of multi-homer performances from Trey Hawsey and Scott.
Hawsey gave the Bulldogs an early lead with a solo homer in the first inning before adding a two-run blast in the third to push the advantage to 3-0.
Sam Houston cut the deficit to 3-2 in the seventh, but Scott answered immediately with a leadoff homer in the bottom half of the inning.
The Bulldogs then broke the game open in the eighth. Hawsey doubled to begin the inning for his third hit of the game before Scott delivered the knockout blow with a grand slam to left field, his second homer of the night.
Scott finished with five RBIs while Hawsey went 3 for 4 with two home runs and three RBIs.
Hudson Rowan earned the win after allowing one unearned run on two hits over five innings while striking out five. Riley Fisher picked up his sixth save of the season with 2 1/3 innings of relief.
Saturday’s regular-season finale belonged to Sam Houston as the Bearkats avoided a sweep with a 6-0 shutout victory.
Tech starter Luke Cooley retired the first five batters he faced before Sam Houston strung together three straight hits in the second inning to build a 2-0 lead.
The Bearkats added another run in the fourth before breaking the game open with a three-run eighth inning aided by a pair of Louisiana Tech errors.
Casey McCoy accounted for two of Tech’s hits while Nate Crider struck out three batters in a scoreless relief appearance.
Despite the loss, the Bulldogs secured the No. 5 seed in the upcoming CUSA Tournament and will face Sam Houston again in Wednesday’s opening-round matchup.
