The LA Tech Bulldogs baseball team clinched their third consecutive Conference USA series by defeating Kennesaw State 4-3 on Sunday, Apr. 19, at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw.
This win marks an important moment for the Bulldogs as they continue their strong performance in league play, having now won seven of their last nine conference games. The victory came after a tightly contested match that saw both teams struggle offensively through the early innings before LA Tech took control in the third.
Trey Hawsey hit his team-leading eleventh home run of the season to give LA Tech a two-run lead, followed by Colton Coates and Eli Berch contributing key hits to extend the advantage. Pitcher Landon Fontenot delivered five scoreless innings without allowing a hit, while Luke Nichols carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Kennesaw State managed its first hit and subsequent runs.
In a tense ninth inning, Wesley Scott led off with a base hit and later scored what proved to be the winning run after Coates drove him in with a sacrifice fly. The game ended dramatically when Scott made a diving catch in left field to prevent Kennesaw State from tying the score.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs said: “It was a great play by Wesley Scott in left, my heart rate is still going at 1,000 beats per minute. It was a big win on the road to win the series. We’ve rode Thomas Allen pretty hard, and to ask him to get six outs after coming in Friday night it’s asking a lot of the young man, but he got it done. He left the ball up on the one at-bat and credit to their hitter, the guy drove it out of the park to tie the game. It was not an offensive day—the wind was howling in, but it was blowing out to right field. We were fortunate that Trey got one as well, and then Colton Coates with a big swing. We didn’t get the bunt down in the ninth to advance the runners, but we ended up in the same position we’d be in anyways. They walked Hawsey and it was going to be on Coates to get it done, and he did with two strikes on him. And then Thomas Allen goes out, and Wesley makes a great play with a runner on. I just couldn’t be prouder of this team. To win three-straight series and get two of them on the road, it’s huge. You don’t like to say any game is a must-win, but we had to win this one today. Our guys found a way to get it done and gutted it out, and I’m very proud of them.”
With this result—one where KSU managed only three hits—LA Tech continues its push for higher standing within Conference USA as they look ahead toward future contests.
