RUSTON – The Diamond 'Dogs (33-22, 19-10 CUSA) clinch the series in their final home weekend of the season, taking an 8-2 win over Sam Houston (23-32, 12-17 CUSA) at the Love Shack on Friday night. With Friday's win, the Bulldogs have seven series wins in league play and have won 14 of their last 20 games.
 
Trey Hawsey's 14th homer of the season put the 'Dogs up early with a 1-0 lead in the opening frame. After a scoreless second, Colby Lunsford split the left center gap with a one-out first-pitch double in the third before the lead grew to 3-0 on the next pitch with Hawsey's second homer of the evening.
 
The Bulldog first baseman has his second multi-homer game of the season and third of his career.
 
Hudson Rowan gave the 'Dogs an efficient start on the bump, tossing five full innings allowing just one unearned run on two hits and three walks. He punched out five Bearkat hitters and had at least one in four of his five frames, including a pair of looking strikeouts in the second.
 
The Bearkats struck the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly in the fourth following a base hit, stolen base and a throwing error to put a runner on third. Sam Houston eventually closed the gap to just one run with an RBI knock in the seventh, but Wesley Scott swiftly pushed the lead back to two with a leadoff blast in the home half for his fourth round-tripper of the season.
 
Riley Fisher entered the game in the seventh with the tying run on base before a base hit and a stolen base put both the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. After drawing an 0-2 count the next at-bat, three straight balls were thrown to bring the count full. A perfectly framed fastball on the lower outside corner of the plate was good enough for a called strike, leaving both runners stranded.
 
Hawsey led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to the left center gap, giving him his third hit of the game for his ninth three-hit performance of the season and 10th of his career. Colton Coates was hit by a pitch before a pitching change was made by Sam Houston.
 
The new Bearkats reliever punched out the first two batters he faced before allowing a four-pitch walk to Matt Houston. With the bases loaded and two outs, Scott belted his second homer of the game to unload them all on the first pitch of his at-bat, giving Tech a six-run cushion with three outs left to get on the defensive side.
 
Fisher picked up a pair of looking punchouts and a groundout in the eighth to leave a runner stranded after a leadoff single. The Bearkats had two runners on with one out following a pair of knocks, but a foul out and a fourth looking strikeout for Fisher gave him his sixth save of the season and the 'Dogs their seventh CUSA series win this season.
 
Friday's contest saw the second occasion of 2026 with multiple 'Dogs hitting multiple homers after Scott's and Hawsey's performance. Lunsford and Cade Patterson each hit two homers in the season opener against Houston Christian on February 13.
 
Prior to this season, the last time multiple Bulldogs belted multiple homers in a game dates back to May 4, 2024, when Ethan Bates and Jorge Corona each hit three homers and Dalton Davis added two four-baggers at New Mexico State.
 
The 'Dogs go for the sweep in the season finale on Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. CT at the Love Shack. Senior Day celebrations will take place on the field following the conclusion of the game.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"I'm really proud of our guys. We talked about it in pregame how far we've come. I think, as 18- to 23-year-olds, they don't realize it because their playing the game and in the moment. But as a veteran coach and a fan, we were in a bad place. We were 4-6 in league play on that Thursday before Easter, we were 15-16 overall. A lot of people left us for dead, but we still had breath. I told the team as long as they have breath, they're alive and we have work to do. I couldn't be prouder of the way our guys have played. I'm proud of Hudson Rowan tonight. I thought his stuff was really good. If you look at his numbers, he doesn't get hit around but runs into a lot of three-ball counts—he had to work through some traffic, but we got some big double plays and ended some innings with some big strikeouts. It just puts a lot of stress on him and the pitching staff, but nobody prepares like Hudson and nobody wants it more than him. Landon Fontenot was good in his innings. I thought he lost some command after hitting a guy, but he got us some big outs tonight, and I thought Riley Fisher was fantastic. Trey Hawsey had a big night with two homers and a double, and then Wesley Scott—what can you say? An advantage count—2-0 pitch for a solo homer to extend the lead, and then a huge grand slam. Credit to Sam Houston's guy, he got two big punchouts in the eighth. I thought Matt Houston's at-bat to draw the walk and load the bases for Wesley was huge. It got a little hairy there in the ninth, but we got it done. Overall, I thought we played clean baseball with just the one error. I thought some freebies early in the game allowed them to get on base and play their game, which is to run, and you saw what they can do when they get on base. They put it to work tonight and it's hard to handle, because that's what they're built for. But, I'm just extremely proud of our guys and tomorrow is a big day. We have a chance to win 20 games in the league, it's the seniors' last game here—I take that stuff very seriously. I get sentimental about that stuff, and it's the last chance for our fans to watch us here at the Love Shack. I think it's imperative we come out and we play as hard as we can. The outcome will take care of itself, but we need to come out tomorrow and have a great effort—we're playing really good baseball, and we need to be. We can only control what we can control, but extremely proud of our guys and where we are right now."
 
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