LA Tech’s Bates and McConnell earn NCBWA All-American honors

RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech’s Ethan Bates and Cole McConnell were named NCBWA All-American, the NCBWA announced on Wednesday. Bates’s and McConnell’s All-American selections now put Louisiana Tech at 14 All-Americans in program history.

Bates, with his second All-American honor, was named to Collegiate Baseball first-team All-American in 2023. The Arkansas native earned a First-Team honor as a relief pitcher after having an ERA of 3.43 on the bump with 52 punchouts and 20 walks in relief this season. Bates had 44.2 innings (36 appearances) of relief with a 2-1 record and led the nation in saves with 17. Bates also had a batting-against average of .180, second lowest on the team.

McConnell earned his first All-American honor as a Louisiana Tech Bulldog. The Beaumont, Texas native senior campaign ended with him batting .378 at the plate, led CUSA in batting average, while also having 71 RBI this season, which was second on the team. McConnell, in 60 games, had 94 hits on the year with 18 home runs.

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