By MALCOLM BUTLER, Lincoln Parish Journal
RUSTON — It will be a good ole fashion Dog and Cat fight Friday when the Fayetteville Regional opens as No. 2 seed Louisiana Tech faces No. 3 seed Kansas State at 7 p.m. at Baum-Walker Stadium in the first day of the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Tech (45-17) and Kansas State (32-24) will be joined by the host Razorbacks (43-14) and the No. 4 seed Southeast Missouri State Redhawks (34-25) in the double elimination format. SEMO is the Ohio Valley Conference Champions while Arkansas is the No. 5 national seed and an at-large team from the SEC.
The Bulldogs’ players and coaches joined university administrators and fans to watch the selection show at the Davison Athletics Complex.
Tech head coach Lane Burroughs said he is very familiar with all three teams in the regional.
“Is there a good draw? Is there a bad draw? I think there are going to be a lot of storylines in this regional,” said Burroughs. “I obviously worked for (Arkansas coach) Dave Van Horn at Northwestern State. Andy Sawyers is the head coach at SEMO. He played for Dave Van Horn. He replaced me at Kansas State. I worked at Kansas State.
“(Tech associate head coach) Mitch Gaspard worked at Kansas State. And obviously our (Conference USA) Player of the Year, Ethan Bates, played at Arkansas. So there are plenty of storylines to go around.”
So what did Burroughs think about the Bulldogs’ draw?
“I don’t know if there is such thing as a good draw or a bad draw,” said Burroughs. “There are 64 teams playing and every one of them are pretty good. The fact that we are still playing is the most important thing.
“One of our goals going into the season was to win the conference, which we did, and to win a regional. It’s time to move to the next step and get to a Super Regional. You see it every year. New teams get (to Super Regionals) every year.”
Kansas State was considered a bit of a bubble team for an at-large berth after posting a 15-15 record in the Big 12. The Wildcats went 1-2 in the Big 12 Championships, falling to Kansas and TCU.
K-State is led by shortstop Kaelen Culpepper.
“I know Kansas State is really good,” said Burroughs. “They have a Team USA player on their roster (in Culpepper) that is a really good player. They were picked high in the Big 12 and had a pretty good year. They scuffled a little bit during the season, but I know what kind of (program that is). They are coached really well and they have really good players.”
Bates, Tech’s two-way standout as a slugging designated hitter and bullpen ace, began his college career with the Razorbacks, and liked the Bulldogs’ assignment.
“I’m really excited,” said Bates. “Getting to go back home and see everybody that I know. All of my friends and family are up there. I guess it’s a good time to get back to Arkansas.”
This marks the third regional in the past four years for Tech as the Bulldogs hosted in 2021 and participated in the Austin Regional in 2022. Tech also played in the 2016 Regional in Starkville, Mississippi, where SEMO was one of the four teams.
The Bulldogs were projected to make the NCAA field before hosting last weekend’s CUSA Tournament. When they fought back through the loser’s bracket to Sunday’s finals before bowing to second-seeded Dallas Baptist 17-10, it likely enhanced their grip on a No. 2 regional seed.
Contact Malcolm at lpjnewsla@gmail.com