By Drew Parsley, Louisiana Tech Associate Director Strategic Communications and Staff Reports
Louisiana Tech freshman Thomas Allen, a former Benton star, earned his first career win as the Bulldogs defeated Northwestern State 5-2 Tuesday night at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
Allen, making his second consecutive relief appearance, was the fourth pitcher used by Louisiana Tech Head Coach Lane Burroughs. He entered the game in the sixth inning and tossed two scoreless innings. He allowed one hit, struck out five and walked one.
“I thought Thomas Allen was electric, the young freshman,” Burroughs said. “The Bulldogs improved to 8-1. Northwestern State dropped to 5-4.
The ‘Dogs’ 8-1 record is tied for their best start through the first nine games in the Burroughs era, as well as just the third time LA Tech has started 8-1 or better since the 1984 season.
Freshman second baseman Casey McCoy made his presence known, putting the game out of reach for NSU with a massive 408-foot homer over the left field wall in the fourth inning, along with assisting on a double play.
Landon Fontenot recorded another efficient midweek start for the Bulldogs, tossing three scoreless innings for the second-straight time in 2026. The sophomore southpaw allowed just one hit and no walks with four strikeouts. Nate Crider kept the Demon offense at bay, starting the eighth inning off with a pair of strikeouts and ending it with a groundout on a 3-2 count.
Riley Fisher earned his second save of the season, striking out two batters in the ninth despite giving up a pair of singles.
LA Tech looks ahead to a three-game weekend series hosting the #12 Southern Miss Golden Eagles, with the series opener set for Friday, February 27 at 6 p.m. at the Love Shack. This will be Tech’s first regular-season clash with a ranked opponent at home since 2022, when the ‘Dogs hosted #2 LSU at the Love Shack and defeated the Tigers 11-6 on February 23 that year.
Quotables
Head Coach Lane Burroughs:
“Anytime we play Northwestern State, it’s going to be a battle. We knew that going in—we told our guys that they were going to come in here with their hair on fire. They have a good club and are coached very well. Obviously, our last midweek against McNeese didn’t go the way we wanted, and tonight had a similar start to that. We get a homer to start it off, Landon Fontenot pitched extremely well as our opener with his three innings. It was giving that same look as last week, but I thought our guys held firm and steady. I thought Coach [Cooper] Fouts did an unbelievable job with our bullpen tonight, the way he worked it. I thought our bullpen was electric. We had 13 strikeouts over three walks. I thought Thomas Allen was electric, the young freshman. He got the win tonight—two innings with five punchouts. Nate Crider was really good. When guys are throwing good like that, you don’t really need to make a move. Riley Fisher has started to work his way into that closer role, and he was electric as well. We had the big three-run inning in the third after Colton’s homer in the first. Eli Berch and Cade Patterson had big hits for us in that inning. It goes without saying that we played unbelievable defense—no errors again tonight. It was a grind, a tough game, and we really focused on our guys focusing on tonight. Everybody knows we have a big weekend with Southern Miss ranked 12th and they’re probably our biggest rival. It’s an opportunity for us to make some hay and make a name for ourselves, but very proud of our guys for showing up tonight. We played a lot better in this midweek, and you can’t just get up for weekends. At our level, you have to win the midweeks, and Northwestern State is a good team—we’ll play them two more times this year. Huge win for us, extremely proud of our guys and the focus they showed.”