RUSTON – The Diamond 'Dogs (8-6) saw a stronger effort at the plate Wednesday night, yet suffered their fifth-straight loss, 6-2, to Arkansas State (11-3) at the Love Shack. Tech saw a pair of homers go over the wall in their favor, marking their seventh game this season with multiple dingers.
 
The 'Dogs saw a solid start from Blake Hooks on the mound, making his first career start since arriving to Tech. The graduate right-hander picked up a pair of swinging strikeouts to leave a baserunner stranded who reached via throwing error.
 
The Red Wolves scored their first run of the contest in the top of the second on a stolen base at home plate. ASU had runners on first and third with two outs following a base hit through the left side and a base hit that dribbled into the outfield after deflecting off the pitcher's and the diving second baseman's glove. A pickoff move was made to first with the runner on third simultaneously sprinting home, scoring before the throw could make it back to the plate.
 
A leadoff homer and an RBI single in the third extended ASU's lead to 3-0 before the 'Dogs cut it the lead to two on a solo blast by Nathan Houston for his first of the season and of his Bulldog career. The Red Wolves added damage in the fourth on back-to-back RBI singles followed by a two-run triple to give them a 7-1 lead going into the home half.
 
Tech saw their second homer of the game with two outs in the fourth off the bat of Hayden Gustavson for the first of his Tech career, but the Red Wolves kept the 'Dogs in check at the plate before adding an insurance run in the ninth off a leadoff solo homer.
 
Thomas Allen had a strong performance coming out of the bullpen for the fourth time this season. The freshman set new career highs with 5 1/3 innings and six punchouts while allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. His inning and strikeout total were also game highs in Wednesday's outing.
 
The Bulldogs look ahead to a three-game road trip in Mobile, Alabama to face the South Alabama Jaguars. The series opener is set for Friday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m. CT at Stanky Field.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"Another tough night and tough loss, but you try to take the positives away from the game. We struck them out 12 times and we only struck out six times. I thought Thomas Allen pitched his tail off, young freshman. They had the two big innings in the third and the fourth—and the wheels fell off for us. He came in and inherited a mess. When things aren't going good, it seems like everything goes against you. but you have to create your own breaks. One of the coaches told me we hit around 11 baseballs over 100 miles an hour tonight, so you can't ask for much more than that. I thought our hitters swung the bat pretty good—if you're hitting that many baseballs that hard, then you're swinging it good, they just aren't falling right now. Both homers were solos. They got the big hits with runners on, and we did not. You have to credit them—they're a good team and they're playing well. It's a long season with peaks and valleys, and we're in a valley right now. It'll take one win and we'll get this thing back on track. I thought pregame went good, energy was good and there was good attitude. I thought our guys came ready to play, and they played hard. I'm proud of Thomas, and I thought Blake Hooks had a good start on the mound with some success. We'll keep working and keep moving forward, and put this behind us."
 
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