Louisiana Tech baseball radio booth named in honor of Dave Nitz

RUSTON, La. – When you are a two-time Hall of Famer, honors come in pairs.

At least that is the case for longtime Louisiana Tech broadcaster Dave Nitz, who is enshrined in both the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.

And now, for the second time in the last six years, the 47-year plus veteran of the LA Tech Radio Network will have a radio booth named in his honor.

Thanks to the generosity of a group of former Louisiana Tech student-athletes and alums, the baseball home radio booth at the newly rebuilt J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park will be named the Dave Nitz Radio Booth, pending the approval of the Board of Directors for the University of Louisiana System.

How does the saying go?

“You gotta love it!”

In 2017, Dave’s name was cast outside of the door of the home radio booth at Joe Aillet Stadium. And now, just a block down West Alabama Avenue, a similar sign will adorn the door at the home of the Bulldog baseball program.

And no one is more deserving.
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Rewind to 1974.

A 31-year-old Dave Nitz called his first Louisiana Tech sporting event of any type. Because of Dave’s love for the diamond, it is only apropos that it was the Bulldog baseball team’s NCAA regional appearance at old Arlington Stadium.

Those Diamond Dogs came up one win short of a College World Series appearance that season.

“I don’t know how (Pat) Gravy Patterson got me (to Texas), but he got me there somehow,” said Dave.

What a start to a Hall of Fame career.

Fast forward almost five decades and more than 6,000 collegiate and minor league baseball broadcasts.

Dave, now 78 and in his 48th season of calling Bulldog Baseball, sits in his new crib at the newly-rebuilt J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park barking out the play-by-play of a Top 25-ranked Tech team. And he is doing it with the same enthusiasm he showcased to Tech fans in 1974.

“I was listening to Nitz on the radio many years before I ever met him,” said former Louisiana Tech track and field star and donor to the naming rights project John Allen. “When I finally did get a chance to meet him in recent years, I felt like I knew him already. I already had a special connection with him. He broadcasts games in a way where he paints the picture for you in your mind. You can see what is going on over the radio. I have personally gotten to know him, and I have a great admiration for his ability and his talent.”

Dave – who recently announced he is going to call baseball only starting with the 2021-22 season — has called more than 2,500 Bulldog baseball games during his career behind the mic in Ruston. In total, he has eclipsed the 4,000 mark in total Louisiana Tech athletic events broadcast, including baseball, football, and men’s and women’s basketball.

“When I am listening to Dave on the radio, I can see everything happening because he so good at what he does,” said former Bulldog baseball star and donor to the naming rights project Gary Patterson. “I have never heard anyone do baseball on the radio any better. It is as if I am sitting in the stadium watching the game. He is as good as there is.”

He is a Hall of Famer.

Louisiana Tech friends and supporters can make a gift to support the Dave Nitz radio booth. All donations go directly to the facility rebuild of the baseball, softball, and soccer stadiums in Dave’s honor. Donors at $1,000 and above will be listed on a plaque in the home radio booth that “Freeway Dave” will see during every home game. Questions on donations to the project can be directed at Alan Savage at (318)257-7950 or asavage@latechalumni.org.