RUSTON – The Diamond 'Dogs (8-4) ended the weekend series with a 6-2 loss to #12 Southern Miss (10-1) Sunday afternoon at the Love Shack.
 
The Golden Eagles jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a leadoff double followed by an RBI knock through the middle of the infield just four pitches into the game. That would be all Southern Miss would get across in the frame after Eli Berch threw out an attempted base stealer, a strikeout and a fly out to leave a runner stranded.
 
The 'Dogs answered back in their turn to bat with a solo homer off the bat of Trey Hawsey for his second round-tripper of the season, hammering a pitch deep over the wall in the right-center gap. Two innings later, Hawsey gave Tech the lead with his second homer of the game being sent over the videoboard behind the right field wall, giving the sophomore the second mutli-homer game of his career.
 
Southern Miss took the lead back with a two-spot in the fourth. The Golden Eagles led off the frame with a base hit to center and drawing a walk the following batter. A sacrifice bunt laid down put runners on second and third with one out before a fielding error allowed both base runners to score.
 
The Eagles extended to a 4-2 lead in the fifth on a solo shot before a one-out two-run homer in the ninth put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.
 
Sunday was the second game this season the Bulldogs saw a player hit two homers following Matt Houston's two-homer performance in the series finale against Houston Christian on February 15. Landon Fontenot etched in his third consecutive outing without allowing a run, tossing 2 1/3 hitless innings with no walks and striking out two batters.
 
Fontenot entered the game with the bases loaded in the fifth and minimized the damage by drawing a groundout for the final out of the frame. Casey McCoy picked up his sixth multi-hit game of the season and third in his last four games, along with extending his hitting streak to seven games.
 
The Bulldogs return to play on Tuesday, March 3 to open a two-game midweek series with Arkansas State at the Love Shack. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"We got swept at home, and that's unacceptable in my book. I don't care who you're playing—you have to take care of your house and find a way to get one. But, it's not the first time we've been swept at home. I thought we had some opportunities today. We had runners on first and second with our 2 and 3-hole coming up in the fourth inning in a two-run game, and we get two punchouts. Credit to their arms—they're elite arms. There have been a lot of scouts here this weekend, and they're here to look at their arms. You're facing one of the best pitching staffs in the country, but you have to find a way to cash in there. I thought they did a good job of two-strike hitting all weekend long, when they needed to score runs, they got the big hit, and we did not. Sometimes, you have to tip your cap to the arms you're facing. I thought we pitched the ball really well today. Brooks [Roberson] didn't have his best stuff today, but I thought he competed well. Blake [Hooks] hadn't been out there in a while, but we needed to get him back out there. I hate to put too much on one game and one series this early in the year, but it was a big game. But we also needed him back out there. If we're going to be successful and if we're going to have a good bullpen, we need Blake Hooks to be in the middle of it. I thought Landon Fontenot coming in and getting the groundout with the bases loaded was huge for us to keep it at a two-run game. I'm not panicking, and if anyone wants to jump off the bandwagon—that's good. We're going to be fine. This team is going to be fine—we work hard, we've got good players, we'll learn from this weekend and keep it going."

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