Louisiana Tech sports facilities take major damage from violent storm

Our student-athletes and student body are safe, which is our main concern.

We are still in shock over the devastation to our city and our campus.

Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers. We are still assessing the damage our facilities, but we CAN and WILL rebuild. pic.twitter.com/PMzwXqe7dk

— LA Tech Sports (@LATechSports) April 25, 2019

A storm that ripped through Louisiana Tech University early Thursday morning caused severe damage to multiple athletic facilities at the school.

Tech’s softball stadium, soccer stadium and tennis courts suffered the most severe damage, while the baseball stadium and the track and field facilities sustained some damage as well from what state officially have ruled as this point a “probably tornado.”

Hope everyone in Ruston, La, and associated with @LATechBSB are safe. Some bad damage photos from the baseball park after a tornado hit. That might take a while to clean up. pic.twitter.com/PIYe9XQhgb

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) April 25, 2019

#LATech’s softball stadium got hit hard. Awful stuff… @LATechSB @LATechSports pic.twitter.com/yU0E9SGVVR

— Cory Diaz (@CoryDiaz_TNS) April 25, 2019

Tommy McClelland, athletic director at the Louisiana Tech, released an initial statement on his Twitter page Thursday morning, categorizing the damage to the facilities as “severe.”

Louisiana Tech & the Ruston Community were hit by tornadoes early in the morning. Our student body & student-athletes are safe, which is our first & foremost concern. We have severe damage to many of our athletic facilities (baseball, softball, soccer, tennis and track & field)..

— Tommy McClelland (@tmcclelland) April 25, 2019

(Continue….) These can and will be rebuilt. The sun has just come up and we are accessing more of the damage. Thank you for your prayers and concerns for our community our campus and department.

— Tommy McClelland (@tmcclelland) April 25, 2019

Multiple sources told thenewsstar.com that both the softball and soccer stadium were “destroyed” while the baseball stadium was “severely damaged.”