JOURNAL SPORTS
The “Lane Train” is going to call Ruston home for quite some time.
Louisiana Tech VP and Director of Athletics Dr. Eric A. Wood announced Thursday that Bulldog Baseball head coach Lane Burroughs has signed a new contract extension through the 2026-27 season.
The contract extension, which reportedly includes an undisclosed pay raise, is pending approval by the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System. It came in the wake of a flurry of national media speculation, and likely back-channel conversations, about Burroughs being in the mix for head coaching posts at Baylor, Kansas and Tulane.
Burroughs just wrapped up his sixth season at Tech with an overall record of 43-21, a Conference USA tournament title and a second straight NCAA Regional appearance. He has been given another full five-year contract, just a year after receiving an extension that wasn’t prompted by such widespread media speculation about his involvement in other upwardly mobile jobs.
“The amount of success Lane and his baseball program have had during his time as head coach, in particular the last two years, is incredible. Back-to-back NCAA Regional appearances with 85 combined wins to go along with a Conference USA regular season and tournament title. This program is firing on all cylinders right now,” said Wood.
“This commitment to Lane is not just a reflection of the team’s performance on the field but also off the field. He continues to represent our institution in a first-class manner and we are behind him 100 percent as he leads Louisiana Tech Baseball into the future.”
The Diamond ‘Dogs got C-USA’s automatic bid into the 2022 NCAA Regionals (the 10th overall appearance in program history) after claiming the league tournament in Hattiesburg with a 9-8 walk-off win over UTSA in the finals, giving the program its first postseason conference title since 1987.
After earning the No. 16 national seed in the 2021 NCAA Regionals, it marked the first time since 1986 and 1987 that the Bulldogs appeared in a regional in back-to-back seasons. The 43 total wins, which included two victories over nationally ranked LSU, tied for the second most in school history.
“One of my greatest honors has been leading the Bulldogs as the head baseball coach at Louisiana Tech,” said Burroughs. “My family and I love Ruston and this great University. Myself, our staff and the players are committed to continuing the hard work and reaching our ultimate goal of getting this program to Omaha.”
During his six seasons as the helm, Burroughs has amassed an overall record of 205-111 while producing 25 All-Conference USA selections. This past season, six Bulldogs ended up earning All-Conference USA honors as Taylor Young, Cole McConnell and Kyle Crigger were named first team and Jorge Corona, Cade Gibson and Ryan Harland were second team selections.
His program has also had nine C-USA All-Academic honorees as well as five Academic All-American selections, including Jonathan Fincher and Steele Netterville who are back-to-back award winners (fourth and fifth LA Tech student-athletes to earn multiple Academic All-America honors).
Photo by TOM MORRIS, Louisiana Tech
