Image credits:
Ethan Bates (Photo courtesy of Louisiana Tech University)
Following Sunday's win over Air Force in Sugar Land, Texas, Louisiana Tech coach Lane Burrows called his players after capping off a perfect weekend at the Battle at the Ballpark tournament. . The Bulldogs improved to 11-0 under him, off to the best start in program history and the longest winning streak in more than 30 years.
Burroughs, Los Angeles Tech's eighth-year coach, told his team to enjoy the day's victory. Come Monday, the Bulldogs must begin preparing for their toughest week of nonconference play this season. They will return home for two games against reigning Big East Tournament champion Xavier in midweek and a weekend series against Southern Miss.
“I told them it’s big boy baseball this week,” Burrows said. “Xavier is dangerous, they're a good team, a good program. With Southern Miss, we know they're going to throw.
“This is probably the biggest week of our schedule, at least until conference play. Come Sunday, we're going to find out more about who we are.”
Los Angeles Tech won its first game against Xavier, extending its winning streak to 12 games, but lost 6-4 on Wednesday. Although the Bulldogs fell from the undefeated ranks with this loss, their run to start the season was still impressive, especially after a tough 2023 season where they finished with 28 wins and 31 losses. This is their first losing season since 2015 and comes on the heels of back-to-back 40-win seasons that earned them an NCAA Tournament appearance.
So it was very satisfying for L.A. Tech to erase the disappointment of a year ago with the best start in program history. The final five remaining undefeated teams include Florida State (11-0), Texas A&M (13-0), TCU (13-0) and UC Irvine (10-0). It became one of them. LA Tech's 12-game winning streak tied for the third-longest streak in program history, coming just shy of the 13-game winning streak set in 1987 and 1978.
A hot start isn't just the result of an easy schedule. While it's true that LA Tech has yet to play a team from a major conference, they did play five games against teams that finished in the top 50 in RPI last season.
The biggest change for the Bulldogs this season came on the mound. The team's ERA was 4th in the nation (2.48), a significant improvement from last year's 164th place (6.06). This improvement occurred despite the loss of left-hander Jonathan Fincher, one of the best pitchers in program history.
Burrows credited the hard work of pitching coach and recruiting coordinator Cooper Fouts for orchestrating the turnaround.
“Last year, he had a lump, he had a fever, the pitching staff as well,” Burroughs said. “There's a saying around here: 'If you're backed into a corner, you either fight or quit.'
“He cut off his tail.”
After last season, Fouts became involved in both recruiting and coaching. The Bulldogs brought in shocking transfers from both junior colleges and four-year universities. Left-hander Luke Nichols (junior college) and right-hander Turner Swistak (Tennessee) entered the rotation, and right-hander Sam Brodersen (Wingate) took on a key relief role. Right-handers Caden Copeland and Reid Smith both took steps into bigger roles, with Copeland moving from the bullpen to the midweek starter and Smith from the midweek starter to the weekend rotation. And the entire staff was re-energized by the reassurance that two-way star Ethan Bates was ready to finish the game.
Despite the relative inexperience of this group, none of the weekend's starting pitchers had pitched in that role before, and Copeland had never started a game before this season. , the result was a strong core on the mound.
“The work Coach Fouts and the guys have done, they're now seeing the fruits of their labor,” Burrows said. “They all worked very hard and bought in.”
LA Tech has a lot of experience offensively. Normally, eight players who are at least a fourth-year college baseball player would start, including Bates and catcher Jorge Cornona, who was named to the All-Conference USA First Team last year. They also received a boost from the return of outfielder Cole McConnell, who was a first-team All-CUSA player in 2022 but was suspended for most of last season.
Los Angeles Tech also worked hard to improve its control of the strike zone, reducing strikeouts and increasing walks. So far, this approach has worked. The Bulldogs are striking out in 12.7% of their at-bats, down from 20.4% last season. His walk and hit-by-pitch rates are on the rise.
“Last season we had absolutely too many strikeouts,” Burrows said. “We preached that from day one in the fall. Our players know the strike zone and do a good job of extending their at-bats.”
This lineup will be at full strength heading into this weekend's game against Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles (8-5) boast a team ERA of 4.04 (43rd in the nation), and under Christian Ostrander, who was promoted from pitching coach to head coach last June, they have consistently ranked among the best pitchers in the nation every year. He is counted as one of the team.
This weekend, two teams who know each other well will be playing against each other. Los Angeles Tech and Southern Miss were both members of C-USA from 2013 until Southern Miss left for the Sun Belt after the 2022 season. By the end of that decade, they were competing at the top of the conference standings and had some controversial battles. The rivalry likely reached its peak in 2021, when the two teams faced off 11 times due to the pandemic-induced schedule changes and three conference tournament games. Of those 11 games, seven were decided by one point.
Last year, Southern Miss' first appearance in the Sun Belt, both teams had separate midweek and home games. Both teams will play weekend sets this year and next. Burroughs said the teams intend to continue to play each other every year, but the format could return to two midweek games.
“We want to keep it going,” he said. “It's good for RPI, it's good for the fans, it's good for the players.”
This series should be one of the best of the weekend and will be a huge opportunity for the Bulldogs at JC Love Field. Most of Los Angeles Tech's big games the rest of the season are on the road, including series at Arizona and Dallas Baptist. This weekend, they have a chance to use home-field advantage to build on their early-season momentum, finish the week in youth baseball on a strong note, and get a key win heading into the eventual restart of the NCAA Tournament.
But most importantly for Burrows, it's another chance to see how the team responds to the challenge.
“I love the club, I love the way they do business,” Burrows said. “We know we're not going to be able to win every game this year. This week is a real test.”
