The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball team achieved a 6-0 shutout victory over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the opening game of the Grind City Classic at FedExPark in Memphis. This win marks their first nine-inning shutout since March 2, 2024, when they defeated Creighton 12-0. It is also their first win against a Power Four opponent since February 28, 2023.
Both teams struggled offensively in the early innings. The Bulldogs left two runners on base in the first inning after a walk and a double but failed to score. Ohio State loaded the bases in their half of the first but was held scoreless following a key strikeout by Declan Dahl.
Ohio State’s offense managed only four hits for the game, with their last coming as a double in the second inning. After that hit, LA Tech pitching retired 13 consecutive batters.
The scoring opened in the fifth inning when Zeb Ruddell hit his first home run of the season, giving LA Tech a lead they would not relinquish. The Bulldogs added another run later in that inning and continued to build on their advantage through late-game hitting, including an eighth-inning double from Wesley Scott for his first two RBIs as a Bulldog.
Declan Dahl started for LA Tech and delivered five scoreless innings with four hits allowed and three walks while striking out three batters. Riley Fisher followed with four perfect innings out of the bullpen, striking out seven on just 48 pitches.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs commented: “I didn’t realize this, but Coach Fouts just told me they didn’t get a hit after the second inning. Riley Fisher was amazing. Before we scored the two runs in the top half of the ninth, I was thinking about making a change on the mound. That was unchartered waters for Riley—he hasn’t been in that situation since playing at the Division I level, and man he never blinked. He was lights out, that was good stuff. There’s no other way to say it. He filled up the zone with all three of his pitches. I’m very proud of Riley, and Declan Dahl had a great day as well. I told Declan after our loss the other night that we needed him to go out there and do his thing, and I thought he was amazing. Declan was getting some traffic early on, but he was able to make an in-game adjustment and after that, they couldn’t do anything.”
Burroughs also noted defensive highlights: “If they don’t score, it’s hard to lose. The pickoff in the second inning was huge. They had their inning set up to do some damage, and those two defensive plays were huge.” He added praise for offensive adjustments: “Every game, every inning, every pitch takes on a life of its own… Zeb got a run for us on a solo swing… We punched out too many times—when you’re going against a tough Friday night guy there’s going to be casualties… But I was so proud of our guys; they hung in there and kept getting quality at-bat after quality at-bat.”
He concluded: “Our defense was outstanding… Another game with no errors—our goal is to field .970 [fielding percentage] or better… that’s our goal every year and so far so good.”
Louisiana Tech will continue play at FedExPark with games against Memphis Tigers at noon Saturday followed by another matchup versus Ohio State later that afternoon.
