RUSTON – Louisiana Tech baseball opened up their five-game homestand falling to Lamar, 6-0, at the Love Shack on Tuesday night.
 
The Bulldogs (10-8) and the Cardinals (10-7) battled through a pitcher's duel through the first seven innings of the contest. Lamar took the 1-0 lead in the second on an RBI single, while Tech put on seven baserunners with five walks, a single and a hit-by-pitch going into the eighth.
 
Tech put pressure on Lamar early in the bottom of the first after Colby Lunsford reached base on a one-out walk and ended up on third following a pair of stolen bases. The Bulldog third baseman stole second on a strikeout before swiping third with no defender covering the base, but a groundout ended the threat.
 
In the fourth inning, Colton Coates drew a two-out walk before advancing to third on a base hit by Matt Houston, the first and only hit of the game for the 'Dogs. Houston ended up on second advancing on the throw to third, but both runners were left stranded with a strikeout to end the frame.
 
Lamar ended their streak of four-straight innings without a hit with a two-out single in the top of the seventh. The runner stole second, but was left stranded following a swinging strikeout.
 
The Cardinals blew the game open with a four-spot in the eighth before extending to a 6-0 lead with a run added in the ninth. A walk, single and an error are how the top of the eighth started for Lamar, putting runners on the corners with no outs. A fielder's choice was hit to allow a run to score, before a pair of doubles, a single and a sacrifice fly gave the visitors a five-run lead going into the final frame.
 
The Cardinals' bats continued to find contact with three-straight base hits to start the ninth, and scoring their sixth run on a double play with the bases loaded and no outs.
 
Landon Fontenot tossed the first two innings of the game, allowing one run on one hit and three walks while striking out three batters. Blake Hooks threw two scoreless innings, allowing just one runner via walk and punching out four Cardinal hitters. Nate Crider also fanned four while tossing 2 2/3 innings allowing one hit to the nine batters he faced.
 
This is the second time this season the 'Dogs were shut out at home, and have not been held to one hit in a game since February 21, 2025 at Southern Miss. The Bulldog pitching staff punched out 12 total batters on the night, marking the ninth time this season Tech has recorded double-digit punchouts and the fourth time with 12 or more.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"It's kind of a mystery to me, that we can come out and play like we did on Saturday and Sunday [at South Alabama], and tonight we looked like a totally different team. The guys were in a good place, we had a brief practice yesterday and I thought that went well, then we come out and play the way we did tonight—it's just a total mystery. I'm at a loss for words—to come out and only get one hit, made a couple of huge defensive mistakes. We only struck out five times and walked eight times, so we had runners on—not many, but we put a lot of easy outs in the air. We didn't really put any pressure on them. In the first inning when we stole second and then Lunsford went to third with the shift on Trey and nobody covering the base—that was really our only opportunity, and we didn't cash in. We looked fatigued and tired; I don't know why. We had a quick practice and they lifted yesterday. College baseball is drunk right now. It's kind of a mystery right now—there's a lot of crazy stuff going on all over the country. Teams getting beat that are nationally ranked by teams that only have one or two wins on the year. It's a wild time, but I can't worry about that—I've got to worry about our team. Again, I'm just totally speechless—not by losing, but by not putting up any fight tonight. We had a great crowd, and we just didn't show up."
 
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