KENNESAW, Ga. – The Diamond 'Dogs (33-24) dropped the opening contest of the 2026 CUSA Baseball Championship, 14-13, to Sam Houston (25-32) Wednesday afternoon at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw.
 
All nine Bulldogs in the starting lineup picked up a base hit with eight recording multi-hit games, led by Sebastian Mexico's four hits and Colton Coates' three hits. Eli Berch recorded a four-RBI game for the second time this season, and both Matt Houston and Wesley Scott drove in three. The 20 hits recorded by the 'Dogs are the most since registering 20 on February 28, 2024 in a 13-4 win at McNeese.
 
Mexico's four-hit performance is the first of his Bulldog career, and Coates' three hits gives him seven three-hit games. His 38 multi-hit games are the most among any active Bulldog.
 
Wednesday's offensive outburst opened up with two runs from the Sam Houston side in the first frame. The Bearkats struck first by leading off the game with a walk, double and an RBI single. A sacrifice bunt allowed Sam Houston to extend their lead to 2-0, but was swiftly taken away following a three-run blast from Berch in the bottom half of the first.
 
Neither side pushed across a run in the second, but the seesaw contest continued in the third with the Bearkats regaining the lead with a two-run homer of their own. Once again, the Bulldogs answered back with a second three-spot in the home half of the frame.
 
Mexico reached on a one-out single before a fourth lead change occurred on a two-run blast off the bat of Houston, putting the 'Dogs on top 5-4. Wesley Scott doubled the lead two pitches later with a solo shot over the fence in right-center field, marking the first time this season Tech registered homers in consecutive at-bats.
 
An RBI bunt single closed Tech's lead to just one run in the fourth before the 'Dogs unloaded a five-spot in the home half.
 
Tech loaded the bases with three-straight singles from Colby Lunsford, Trey Hawsey and Colton coates before Sam Houston was forced to make a pitching change. An RBI knock from Berch on an 0-2 count put the 'Dogs out front by two runs before a sac fly from Mexico and Houston reaching on an error added two more runs, giving Tech a 9-5 lead.
 
An infield knock from Casey McCoy gave the 'Dogs their 10th run of the day before the frame was capped off on a ground-rule RBI double from Cade Patterson, giving Tech an 11-5 lead entering the fifth inning.
 
The Bearkats plated two more runs in the sixth, cutting Tech's lead to four. After picking up a strikeout and a groundout to open the frame, Sam Houston singled and doubled before a two-run knock through the right side of the infield made it an 11-7 game. A fielding error allowed a run to score, cutting the Bearkats' deficit to three.
 
Two more runs from the Sam Houston side in the eighth on a first-pitch homer, giving the 'Dogs just a one-run lead. With no outs in the frame, the Bearkats then loaded the bases on a double and back-to-back walks. Sam Houston then took a three-run lead after recording a bases-clearing double, making it a 14-11 game going into the bottom half.  
 
Mexico led off with a base hit for his fourth hit of the day before coming around to score on Scott's second homer of the day, cutting the 'Dogs' deficit to just one run entering the ninth. A two-out walk was drawn to put the tying run on base, but a pop up ended the opening contest of the CUSA Baseball Championship.
 
Wednesday's contest marks the largest lead blown by the 'Dogs since May 4, 2025 at Western Kentucky.
 
LA Tech now looks ahead to their second scheduled matchup in postseason play against Liberty, set for Friday, May 22 at 9 a.m. CT/10 a.m. ET at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"The hitter's did all they could today, you couldn't ask for much more from them. I didn't see that coming, with Declan Dahl's and Ryan Peterson's short outings. But it's late in the year, it's a postseason game, it's hot and the ball is flying around the yard. I thought our guys came out with a great plan, offensively. We swung the bat good—I thought we had some great at-bats. When you get 20 hits and score 13 runs, you expect to win, but it didn't happen. We didn't do enough. We wouldn't have gotten this far in the season if it wasn't for our guys on the mound, but we just didn't do enough today. Made some huge errors and those came back to bite us, but I thought our hitters did a great job competing all day long and taking some good swings."
 
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