RUSTON – The Diamond 'Dogs (27-18, 14-7 CUSA) secured their second-straight CUSA sweep at home downing Missouri State (26-15, 14-7 CUSA), 9-8, with a seven-run ninth inning to walk off the Bears.
 
Sunday's win marked the largest ninth-inning comeback for LA Tech since April 28, 2008, when the 'Dogs entered the ninth inning trailing 9-3 and won 10-9. The Bulldogs have not seen consecutive home sweeps in CUSA play since the 2024 season, securing three-win weekends over Sam Houston (Apr. 26-28) and Western Kentucky (May 10-12).
 
Missouri State had not been swept in a conference weekend series on the road since April 12-13, 2019, when they were swept at Illinois State as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
 
The Bulldogs managed just one baserunner—a two-out walk in the second—through the first four frames of the game before a two-out double in the fifth from Cade Patterson broke up the no-hitter.
 
Missouri State held a 1-0 lead through the top of the sixth with their lone run coming from a solo homer in the second inning. Trey Hawsey drew a two-out walk on a 3-2 count followed with a Colton Coates double for the 'Dogs' second hit and scoring Hawsey to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Luke Nichols managed to keep the Bears lineup at bay, tossing three scoreless frames while allowing a hit, walk and striking out a batter. Missouri State led off the seventh with a walk and a single before a sacrifice bunt and an error allowed the Bears to take a 2-1 lead.
 
Missouri State pressed on in the frame, taking a two-run advantage on an RBI groundout before an RBI double and a two-run single capped off a five-run seventh for the Bears. Coates cut into the deficit with a two-out first-pitch RBI single in the eighth, but Tech was unable to push across any additional runs before entering the final frame.
 
The Bears added a pair of runs in the ninth to cap off Sunday's finale on an RBI groundout and an RBI single. A pair of singles from Sebastian Mexico and Wesley Scott led off the home half before a wild pitch and an error allowed Mexico to score and close the gap to 8-3.
 
Matt Houston picked up a knock to load the bases with one out and the top of the batting order coming to the plate. Colby Lunsford then followed up with a bases-clearing triple to bring the 'Dogs to within just two runs of tying the game. Two pitches later, Hawsey brought it even with his team-leading 13th homer of the season off of the right field videoboard.
 
With the momentum drastically shifting to the home side, the Bears made a pitching change with Coates coming to bat. The second baseman delivered a knock past a diving shortstop before Eli Berch delivered a hit through the same spot as Coates to put the winning run 90 feet from home plate.
 
Mexico, with a chance to win the game, drew a 1-2 count with the second strike coming on a foul ball that fell close to the first base line. A barrage of shouts from the stands wanted a hit, but after a challenge and review the call of foul ball was upheld.
 
With the Missouri State infield drawn in to prevent the winning run, Mexico split the gap between the first baseman and second baseman, scoring Coates to win the game and clinch the weekend sweep.
 
With Sunday's win, head coach Lane Burroughs now has 450 career wins in 14 seasons. Hawsey (14 games) and Lunsford (12 games) extend their hitting streaks while Berch's reached base streak is pushed out to 18 games.
 
The Bulldogs now look ahead to a midweek road test at ULM on Tuesday, April 28 in Monroe before traveling to Dallas, Texas for a three-game slate with DBU set for May 1-3 at Horner Ballpark.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"What do you say, where do you start? We did not start the game off very well. Tip the cap to their starter, he had all three of his pitches working and kept us off-balance. I thought we looked fatigued at home plate, I was not happy about that. We didn't get a hit until the fifth inning with Cade's double, and we just kept hanging in there. The top of the seventh was a disaster for us. But our guys hung in there and kept going. We had some huge hits in that last inning—Mexico and Scott got it started, Casey McCoy drove in a run and then the triple from Lunsford. And then obviously Hawsey tying the game with the homer. It was just incredible. I thought Joey Wittig had a good inning, he had not been in for quite some time. Landon was good enough to get us through four innings and then turned it over the bullpen, which wasn't as good today as it had been recently, but they did enough for us to get the win. And that last inning—I told the guys that's old-school Louisiana Tech baseball and what we call Love Shack magic. I have a ton of respect for Missouri State, not just for this year's team but the history of their program. Not only to win the series at home, but to get the sweep in that fashion—I couldn't be prouder of this team. We've been to some dark places this year, and it takes a toll. It's hard on everyone involved—coaches, players, fans, season ticket holders. But the guys kept getting out of bed, coming to practice and getting to work. We knew sooner or later we'd break through, but we haven't completely gotten there yet. I told the team they're in a war, and the first battle was Missouri State, and we won that battle. Now, we have a midweek game at ULM and then DBU and Liberty on the road. I want the guys to enjoy this because this is special, but we have a lot of baseball in front of us. But we needed this series, and to get it in that fashion was incredible. I'm proud of Sebastian Mexico—he's been through a lot. He addressed the team on Thursday and it went well. I felt like it was pretty appropriate for him to come to the plate with a chance to win the game, and he got it done for us, so very proud of him."
 
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