RUSTON- Louisiana Tech Baseball team is ranked No. 47 in D1 Baseball polls after finishing their 2022 season in the Austin, TX Regional during their NCAA Championship run. 
 
"They are a genuine top 50 program in college baseball, having firmly established themselves as one of the premier programs in Conference USA."
 

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Under the leadership of Head Coach Lane Burroughs, the team has averaged 39 wins a season finishing 43-21 and 20-10 in C-USA to bring themselves into back-to-back regionals in 2022 along with hosting in 2021. The Bulldogs had four players drafted in the first 10 rounds of the 2022 MLB Draft, the most taken in the top 10 rounds in program history. The Dogs didn't stop there with the record-breaking; they were able to finish with 606 strikeouts, setting a new high in the program record books.  
 
LA Tech has 24 returning players ready to take the field in 2023 including Cole McConnell, Jonathan Fincher, Jorge Corona. McConnell was named First-Team All-Conference USA and ABCA/Rawlings Second-Team All-Region in 2022. He started in all 64 games in center field for the Bulldogs. During the previous season, he broke and set the new single-season RBI record at LA Tech (76) and ranked 13th in the nation. Fincher returns after being names Collegiate Baseball Preseason All-American, CoSIDA Second Team Academic All-American, and Named Second Team All-Region by ABCA/Rawlings. He made 19 appearances and 14 starts in his redshirt junior season as a Bulldog. Corona earned Second Team All-Conference USA and Austin NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team honors while serving as LA Tech's primary catcher in his sophomore season in 2022. With 16 homers, a triple, 11 doubles, 62 RBI, and 41 runs scored, he led the squad in home runs and finished tied for 10th in C-USA.
 
Also taking the field for the Bulldogs in this upcoming season will be Texas A&M transfer Rawley Hector and Brody Drost fcoming in from LSU. Hector is a right-handed pitcher who boasted a 1-0 record with his lone win coming in a midweek victory over No. 8 Texas. In his true freshman season, he appeared in nine games while posting a 7-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 14.2 innings. Hector was also a part of the 2019 18u USA National Team in which he threw five innings allowing two earned runs on three hits and punched out three. Drost, a Barbe High School graduate and 2020 Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year, played in 37 games and started in 20 during his freshman season in 2021. The Lake Charles native made starts at each of the three outfield positions for the Tigers in 2021 and hit .226 with five homers, three doubles, 14 RBI, and 14 runs. Drost was named the No. 100 ranked player in the country by Perfect Game and was named the 2019 Class 5A State Tournament MVP in his time at Barbe High School.
 
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Lane Burroughs
"It's always great to get recognition for the hard work of so many. It's especially good for recruits, fans, alumni and donors to see that our program is continuing to climb and become a force on a national level.
 
This is a program built on hard work and is player driven. We will remain hungry, continue to play with an edge and look to take further steps this spring. Our primary goal is to make the most of each day and continue to get better on a daily basis.  We certainly appreciate the efforts and recognition from D1 Baseball and their outstanding writers."  

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