By Drew Parsley, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications; featured photo by Chase McGough
RUSTON — Louisiana Tech (26-17, 11-6 CUSA) was unable to get going offensively on Sunday, falling to Dallas Baptist (30-13, 13-5 CUSA), 5-0, at the Love Shack.
The Bulldogs’ streak of six-straight series wins was snapped, suffering their second shutout loss at home this year and their first time being shut out at home in a conference game since March 19, 2023.
Landon Fontenot was efficient in his start on the mound, allowing just one hit through three scoreless innings. DBU struck in the fourth after a pair of two-out hits and a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position, followed by a double to the left-center gap to give the Patriots the lead.
DBU doubled their score in the fifth on a two-run homer before adding the insurance run in the seventh with a base hit up the middle.
Tech’s offense was unable to get anything going against the Patriots’ pitching staff, getting just three hits in Sunday’s outing and were unable to move a baserunner to third. The Bulldogs turned their 37th double play of the year in the eighth inning, which is currently the second-most twin killings in CUSA and ranks among the top 20 nationally in Division I.
Ryan Harland was effective out of the bullpen for the second time this series, posting his third shutout performance in his last four outings. The senior southpaw tied his season high with three strikeouts through 2 2/3 innings of work allowing just one hit.
The ‘Dogs will conclude their homestand with a two-game midweek series against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday, April 29 and Wednesday, April 30. Tuesday’s game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. CT start followed by Wednesday’s game starting at 5 p.m. CT.
Head Coach Lane Burroughs after Sunday’s game:
“That game is one reason I don’t use the word ‘momentum’ in baseball, because I thought we played really good Friday night, and I thought we played really good yesterday. We’re in a good place, we’ve got a lot of confidence, and a good arm will stifle momentum in a heartbeat. We ran into a good one today. We knew going in he had a really good changeup, a strike pumper. We just didn’t make many adjustments in the box—that was the only disappointing thing to me. We hit some balls hard, but I didn’t think we made any adjustments offensively. The main message to the team is you can’t let this performance go into Tuesday night, because we’re playing good and we played a good team over there. I don’t think people understand how good this league is. DBU has been in our league for three years and they’ve won the regular season once and the tournament twice, as we have. They’re really good and they did what good teams do—they bounce back the next day and find a way to win. I thought our pitching was good today. I thought Fontenot gave us everything he could give us. Forsythe—the two-run homer obviously hurt, but I thought he gobbled up some innings for us. And then Harland was really good. Harland was outstanding Friday night too, and outstanding again today. We just didn’t get it done offensively, but it’s not from lack of grit, it’s not from lack of our guys competing, it’s not from lack of them working hard and wanting to win. Our guys were into it, they were ready to go today, and we ran into a really good arm. That happens in baseball, it’s baseball. The main thing with us is we’ve got to keep moving forward. Still, everything we want to do is in front of us. We’ve got a huge double midweek and then we’re at Western Kentucky. We can’t let this game go to Tuesday and we can’t look ahead to Western Kentucky. We’ve got to take care of business Tuesday and Wednesday. That was the main message to the team—you’re in a good place, you’re playing with confidence. Do not let this game carry you back another step, because we’re still, in my opinion, I like the way we’re playing.”
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