KENNESAW, Ga. – The Diamond 'Dogs (23-16, 10-6, CUSA) pushed out to an eight-game winning streak Friday night, defeating Kennesaw State (16-18, 6-10 CUSA), 6-3, at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw. The Bulldogs' eight-game winning streak is the longest since 2024, when Louisiana Tech opened the season up with a 12-0 start.
 
A two-out triple from Colton Coates followed with an RBI knock from Eli Berch gave the 'Dogs an early 1-0 lead. A leadoff homer from the Owls tied the game to end the opening frame, but a four-spot from Tech in the second regained the lead.
 
The first three batters reached with a Wesley Scott walk and base hits from Cade Patterson and Hayden Gustavson, with Gustavson driving in Scott to gain a 2-1 lead. Brecken Menuet reached base on a fielder's choice, putting him and Patterson on the corners with one out before Colby Lunsford plated Patterson with an RBI knock.
 
A wild pitch scored Menuet after advancing to third on Lunsford's hit before an RBI knock from Trey Hawsey gave the 'Dogs a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the second.
 
Despite allowing a leadoff homer, Declan Dahl punched out five batters through the first two frames of the contest. The Azle, Texas native had at least two strikeouts in five of the first six frames, including three in the first and third innings.
 
Dahl picked up his 10th strikeout for the first out of the fifth, and ended the day with 13 punchouts. He is the first Bulldog with that many strikeouts since Ryan Jennings punched out 14 against Rice on April 9, 2022.
 
Scott led off the third with a single and stole second before Gustavson drove him in for his second knock and RBI of the night.
 
The Owls put a baserunner on second with one out in the fourth following a fielding error in the outfield and followed with three-straight hits in the form of a single, RBI single and an RBI double to cut Tech's lead to 6-3.
 
The contest went quiet offensively for both sides for the remainder of the contest, however KSU put pressure on the LA Tech defense by loading the bases in the seventh. A hit-by-pitch, groundout and a wild pitch gave the Owls a baserunner on third with one out before a pair of walks loaded the bases with two outs.
 
Thomas Allen entered out of the pen, picking up a clutch looking strikeout to get out of the jam and notch the first of the five punchouts the freshman would record Friday night.
 
Allen retired the side in order in the eighth, picking up a pair of back-to-back swinging Ks. The Benton native made it four-straight strikeouts with two to start the ninth, and induced a groundout for the final out of the game.
 
Dahl, Luke Nichols and Allen combined for 20 strikeouts in Friday night's win. It is the first time the 'Dogs picked up 20 punchouts as a staff since March 23, 2022 at LSU, defeating the Tigers 7-6 in Baton Rouge.
 
Five Bulldogs picked up multi-hit performances in the victory. Hawsey's pair of hits gives up 16 multi-hit performances this season, which leads the Bulldogs. Lunsford, Berch, Patterson and Gustavson also had two-hit nights. Berch extended his reached-base streak to 12 games, the longest active streak on the team.
 
Hawsey also has 28 multi-hit games in his Bulldog career, which is the second-most among active Bulldogs behind Coates' 29.
 
The second game of the series is set for Saturday, April 18 at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"Not to be that guy, but Declan didn't even have his best stuff tonight, and he just battled and competed. He showed what a Friday night ace is all about—they're different, and he's built different. If we make the play in left, he may not give up another run. He worked through some traffic—got into some jams out there, and he worked out of them. He had 13 strikeouts through 5 2/3, that's all you really need to say. When you're a true ace, you find a way to get it done. We punched them out 20 times tonight—that's incredible. Our pitching was outstanding. After the leadoff guy came up for the fourth time, we had to get him out. He was having success off of Declan and ambushed the first pitch of the game out of the yard. I thought Luke came in and got the lefties out, which is what we wanted him to do. Then what can you say about Thomas Allen? We went all in with him. Brought him in with the bases loaded in the seventh, and he got the big punchout then diced them up in the last two innings. I thought our hitters were locked in early. It got tough to watch—they were chipping away and we weren't scoring. Credit to their lefty—totally different than the starter and we didn't make the adjustments we needed. Our guys competed and worked hard tonight. Very proud of them for finding a way to win."
 
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