The LA Tech Bulldogs men’s baseball team defeated Northwestern State 7-0 on April 7, extending their winning streak to three games and closing out a four-game road trip. The game, held at Brown-Stroud Stadium in Natchitoches, marked the Bulldogs’ first road win against Northwestern State since 2022 and their first shutout of the Demons in Natchitoches since 2016.
This victory is significant for the Bulldogs as it demonstrates improved performance both offensively and defensively. The team recorded double-digit hits for the eleventh time this season, totaling ten hits during the contest.
Freshman Drew Ferguson started on the mound for LA Tech, pitching two scoreless innings with only two hits and a walk allowed. The Bulldogs broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning by scoring four runs with five consecutive hits from Colby Lunsford, Trey Hawsey, Colton Coates, Eli Berch, and Matt Houston. Additional runs came later in the game through timely hitting and aggressive baserunning.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs said: “I’m very proud of our guys for how they played tonight. This might have been one of our best all-around efforts of the season. Besides the one error, we played clean baseball all night. The thing I’m most proud of is our two-strike hitting all night. In the four-run inning, I think we had four hits with two strikes, and we battled and competed. We did a good job of getting the runners on third in to score—those are some things we’ve struggled with all year is our two-strike approach and getting runners in from third with less than two outs. I thought we put pressure on Northwestern State all night long, we ran the bases well going first to third. I thought Drew Ferguson was outstanding. He gave us the two innings we wanted from him; he showed some toughness. I thought Connor Nation was outstanding in his two innings. We tried to extend Landon Fontenot—it’s a midweek, so you don’t want to use as many arms as you don’t have to. I thought Nate Crider coming in and getting the punchout, and Riley Fisher was good closing it out, and I’m proud of him for finishing it off.”
Pitchers Connor Nation earned his first win of the season after tossing two scoreless innings while Landon Fontenot led with four strikeouts over nearly three shutout frames.
Looking ahead, LA Tech will return home to host Middle Tennessee for a three-game Conference USA series starting Friday at Love Shack stadium.
