KENNESAW, Ga. – The Diamond 'Dogs (33-25) dropped their second contest in pool play of the CUSA Championship, 6-0, to the Liberty Flames (40-18) Friday morning at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw. With the loss, Louisiana Tech's 2026 season has been concluded.
 
With the Bulldogs securing 33 wins this year, they have nine 30-win seasons in their last 10 seasons, four of which they eclipsed the 40-win mark.
 
Hudson Rowan gave the 'Dogs an efficient start in his final outing of the year, tying season highs with 6+ innings pitched and 7 strikeouts. Colton Coates posted a game-high three hits in the contest, giving him seven this season and eight in his Bulldog career.  
 
Both sides were scoreless through the first two frames of the game before the Flames struck first, taking a 1-0 lead after scoring on a wild pitch in the third. Liberty threatened to add on in the fourth with runners on the corners and one out, but a punchout from Rowan and a fly out left them stranded.
 
A solo shot with one out in the fifth doubled the Flames' advantage before posting a four-run seventh to essentially put the game away. The 'Dogs struggled throughout the contest to produce offensively, leaving the bases loaded twice and leaving 10 total runners on base.
 
A first-pitch homer to start the seventh gave Liberty a three-run lead before a three-run homer later in the inning doubled their score.
 
Quotables
 
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
"It'll take a while for me to describe this season—it was a wild rollercoaster ride. Give these guys credit, they never stopped. I know a lot of people left us for dead, but we found a way to go 19-11 in a really good league. There's been years when 19-11 wins the league. I'm proud of those guys. Today, we had bases loaded twice and we punched out both times. The opportunity was right there in front of us. The first run came after an error, and obviously they hit a couple homers. But I thought Hudson pitched extremely well—I thought the ball was coming out of his hand really good and was pumping strikes. Unfortunate we didn't come out here and win the ballgame, but I didn't think there was any lack of competing. I thought our guys came ready to play and they played hard, and it just didn't go our way. In this day in age, you never know where guys will end up. We have to regroup as a staff and as a team, and we have to be better. That's the bottom line. It doesn't elude me that we need to be better. I don't like being average, this isn't an average program. We have to figure it out and we will. We had two long losing streaks this year and that just can't happen."
 
SUPPORT LA TECH ATHLETICS
Championships require championship resources.  Fans can make a direct impact on the success of LA Tech Athletics through LTAC, Aillet Society, T-Club, and Young Alumni program as well as the Bulldog Community Outreach which is the NIL collective that supports Bulldog and Lady Techster student-athletes. Visit BuildTheLegacy.com today.  
 
BARK LOUDER
Our mission is to engage, develop, and advance the Louisiana Tech Athletics brand.  You can do that by spending time consuming our content and by investing your talents.  By barking louder with your time and talent, you can affect progress and brand advancement in a meaningful way.  Visit LATechSports.com/BarkLouder today. You bark. We bark. Louder together.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Bulldog Baseball, follow us on X (@LATechBSB), Instagram (@LATechBSB), and Facebook (LATechBSB).