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Wade Simoneaux Head Coach LA TECH

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Wade Simoneaux Head Coach LA TECH LOUISIANA TECH Wade SimoneauX Head Coach LA TECH Entering his tenth season at the helm of the Louisiana Tech baseball program, Wade Simoneaux has turned the Bulldogs into perhaps one of the more prolific offensive teams in the south. Simoneaux has compiled over 230 wins and has turned J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park into a true home field advantage as LA Tech has built a .686 winning percentage since 2006. The 2011 Bulldogs compiled a 34-27 record and had the best finish in the WAC tournament than any other team in school history (2-2). As a UNIVERSITY result, two players, Will Alvis and Ryan Gebhardt, were named to the all-tournament team. Over the past six seasons Simoneaux has totaled 148 wins including two 30-plus win seasons. The five year stretch marks the most successful period for a Bulldog head coach since Pat Patterson and Mike Kane combined to win 171 games between 1988 and 1992. Plain and Simple, Simoneaux has returned a winning tradition to Louisiana Tech as evident by the 16 student-athletes selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, six all-Americans, two freshman all-American, one ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-American and 28 all- WAC performers. In 2011, the Bulldogs reverted back to small-ball. With the new BBCOR bats, Tech totaled 28 home runs, the lowest Tech has compiled since the 1973 season. LA Tech made the transition to a team that can move runners and steal bases and stole 53 bases to rank fourth in the WAC while recording 32 sacrifice bunts and 19 sacrifice flies in 2011. Tech saw seven hitters surpass the .300 mark, led by Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and second team all-WAC shortstop Ryan Geb- hardt. Gebhardt hit .343 with 23 RBI and eight sacrifice hits in 49 games. Kyle Roliard, Mark Threlkeld, Austin Hedges, Colby Johnson, Corey White and Justin Gordey each registered batting averages of at least .300. Roliard earned first team all-WAC honors after hitting .330 with 14 doubles, one triple, one home run and 26 RBI in 58 games. Threlkeld was named second team all-WAC after hitting .309 with 19 doubles, nine home runs and 45 RBI in 61 games. Tech’s defense shattered the putouts record as the team recorded 1,553 putouts, led by 508 by first baseman Alex Williams. The .962 fielding 2012 percentage tied four previous clubs for third best all-time in Tech history. The pitching staff set numerous records as well. The 2011 pitching staff combined to pitch 517.2 innings, the most in school history. Led by closer Caleb Dudley, the bullpen became one of the strongest in the conference as Tech set a school record with 18 saves. Dudley set the single-season mark with 12 saves and also set the single-season mark in appearances with 32. Mike Jefferson earned first team all-WAC honors after posting a 6-4 record with a 3.56 ERA in 86 innings. Jefferson made 14 starts and registered a complete game and led the conference in pickoffs, as the left-hander BULLDOG BASEBALL picked off 11 base runners. Trevor Peterson led the team in starts (16) as he posted a 6-4 record in 83.1 innings including one save. Jeb Stefan led all Bulldog pitchers with seven wins as he returned from Tommy John Surgery. He also led the WAC in fewest hits allowed by a starting pitcher (63). Picked to finish sixth in the conference in the preseason, the 2011 Bulldogs went into the WAC tournament as the three seed and advanced to the final game in the elimination bracket. In 2010, Simoneaux’s squad featured a prolific offense that shattered four school records for hits (697), runs (484), doubles (141) and RBI (441) while having five student-athletes named all-WAC performers. The five all-conference selections marked the most in program history since the Bull- dogs placed six student-athletes on the 1989 All-American South Conference. Nationally, the Bulldogs finished the season ranked amongst the NCAA leaders in 10 offensive categories including rankings in the top 25 in team batting average, scoring, home runs per game and slugging percentage. The Bulldogs’ .336 batting average last season marked the highest total since the 1958 squad hit at a .343 clip. Against conference opponents, there was no drop off offensively as Tech hit a blistering .363 against WAC schools. Although hampered with injuries to the pitching staff, the Bulldogs managed to put together several marquee wins in 2010 as LA Tech took key games against Baylor, Minnesota, Southern Miss and Fresno State. Against Minnesota, the Bulldogs took two-of-three against the defending Big 10 champions including the first ever game played at Target Field – the home of the Minnesota Twins. Despite being tabbed to finish near the bottom of the conference in 2009, Simoneaux led Bulldogs to a second place finish as the team littered their names throughout the LA Tech record books as the team finished the season with 408 total RBI (T-1st in Tech history), 92 homeruns (2nd in Tech history), a .323 team batting average (2nd in Tech history) and 438 runs scored (3rd in Tech history). Tech also ranked nationally in a number of offensive categories as the Bulldogs ended the season ranked 11th nationally in homeruns per game, 16th in total team home runs and 22nd in the nation in scoring. The anchor of the offense in 2009 was NCBWA second team all-American honoree, Devon Dageford. The Beatrice, Nebraska native also received first team all-WAC and first team all-state honors while also being named Louisiana’s newcomer of the year. The right fielder broke the school’s single-season homerun record after launching 23 homers on the year as well as topping LA Tech’s chart’s with 168 total bases in 2009. He also recorded 68 RBI on the year (T-3rd in Tech history) and 18 doubles (T-9th). Dageford was not alone in the 2009 team’s assault on the record books as third baseman/shortstop Chris Kersten set a then single-season school record with 20 doubles in a season while also recording 149 total bases (4th in Tech history) on his way to second team All-WAC. Joining Kersten as a second team all-WAC honoree was outfielder Patrick Thomas. The senior recorded a .370 batting average while hitting seven homeruns, 47 RBI and 112 total bases. Thomas was second on the team behind only Dageford with 58 runs scored. Second baseman Kevin Winn did not receive first or second team All-WAC honors, but did earn ABCA South Central All-Region First Team hon- ors and was also named All Ping! Baseball Third Team honorable mention. Winn recorded a magnificent season as he strung together the nation’s longest hitting streak since 2006-07. Between the 2008-09 seasons Winn put together a 33 game hitting streak on his way to 81 total hits on the season (T-4th in Tech history). He also totaled 19 doubles (T-5th) and 63 RBI (10th). Kersten and Winn were each drafted in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft as well, moving the total number of Tech players drafted under 53 www.LATechSports.com LOUISIANA TECH Simoneaux to 11 in seven years. Kersten was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 39th round (1179th overall) while Winn was picked n the 26th round (774th overall) by the San Diego Padres. After the conclusion of the 2008 season, six Bulldogs were selected in the Major League Baseball draft, the most in school history. They in- cluded pitcher Luke Burnett, outfielder Adam Cobb, first baseman Albie Goulder, pitcher/outfielder Jericho Jones and pitchers Alan Knotts and Dylan Moseley. All of the draftees signed with their respective major league teams but Moseley who has decided to return for his senior season. Before the draftees were given the opportunity to play baseball at the major league level, several players received numerous individual awards leading up to, during and at the conclusion of the 2008 season. Burnett was named to the 2008 Brooks Player of the Year Watch List prior to the start of the season. During the year, Goulder was named Western Athletic Conference Hitter of the Week (Feb. 25). Knotts followed Goulder’s efforts when he was awarded WAC Pitcher of the Week (Mar. 3), then Jones received the final weekly WAC hitter award when he was named WAC Hitter of the Week (May 19). At the end of the season, Jones and Cobb received all-WAC honors. Jones was named to the all-WAC First Team and Cobb was named to the all-WAC Second Team. Simoneaux was awarded WAC Coach of the Year in 2007. During the same season, former Louisiana Tech baseball standout Brian Rike received WAC Player of the Year honors and was the first player from Tech to receive the prestigious award. Rike was also named Second Team All-America by Baseball America and Louisville Slugger. He collected his third All-America honor when he was named Third Team All-America by the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings. LA TECH In 2006, Jones was named WAC Freshman of the Year. During his award-winning season, he batted .375, collected 66 hits, 10 doubles, 16 home runs and 56 RBI. He was the first freshman to receive the award during Simoneaux’s reign. UNIVERSITY There have been many changes off the field, as well under Simoneaux. Among the changes include strong team discipline and the team’s involvement in community outreach programs.
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