The "LA Tech" team scored 21 unanswered points in the first quarter and led for most of the game as it defeated the "Bulldogs" team, 38-27, in the annual T-Day Spring Game in front of 5,700 fans at Joe Aillet Stadium Sat-urday, April 13.

The intrasquad scrimmage, which was the last session of the program's 2013 spring practice schedule, lasted two hours in Skip Holtz’s first spring game as head coach at Louisiana Tech.

Unlike the last scrimmage which was a defensively-dominated intrasquad session, the combined offenses racked up a total of 791 total yards in the 128-play scrimmage. The defense was not without its own highlight plays including a pick-six by IK Enemkpali and a 42-yard fumble return by Kendrick James.

Scotty Young was 16-for-22 for 158 yards and three touchdowns on the day while Ryan Hig-gins was 17-for-26 for 191 yards but had three interceptions.

"I thought Scotty did a nice job," head coach Skip Holtz said. "He did a good job of protecting the ball today. He did a nice job with the two-minute drive right before halftime with taking the team down the field and putting them in the end zone. I thought he did some really good things today. The negative to the day for me was the four turnovers by Ryan (Higgins) and those are the things that will take you out of that running in a hurry, but I thought Scotty really did a nice job of running the offense. He's playing with more confidence, especially for someone who has played as little as he has."

Brandon Davis led all rushers with nine carries for 98 yards and one touchdown with a 63-yard run while Marlon Seets ran for 47 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. It was Seets' 10-yard touchdown run that gave the Bulldogs team its only lead of the day less than two minutes into the game.

(Continued on Page 2)

Q & A with Head Softball Coach Mark Montgomery

Spring Football Season Ends With Successful T-Day Spring Game

Inside this issue:

Spring Game Recap 1 & 2

Q & A w/ Coach Montgomery 1 & 4

A Word from Tim Rattay 3

Jerry Hudson 3

Introducing Jeff Cummings 3

Upcoming Events 5

CM: “We absolutely love Ruston. My

children are engaged in their activities

now. I’ve got one daughter playing soft-

ball, another playing AAU basketball,

and the other waiting for swimming to

start up. We have a pool at our house

and they’re starting to get in that and

have a great time. It takes awhile after a

move for kids to regroup with new

friends, but the community has just been

wonderful and has absolutely absorbed

us in. We’re just ecstatic to be here and

we really feel like it’s home now.”

Coach Mark Montgomery

is winding down his first

season as Head Softball

Coach at Tech after highly

successful head coaching

stints at both Centenary

and Northern Colorado.

We sat down with Coach

Montgomery to get his

thoughts on his first season at Tech as well

as the new softball facility renovations.

Q. Coach, first off, how are you and your

family enjoying Ruston?

Q. What are your thoughts on the sea-

son thus far?

CM: “I feel like this season’s been a

good one, but I don’t think it’s been a

great one yet. I still think it has a

chance to end in greatness with the

WAC tournament being here. We’ve

had some struggles and some ups and

downs, but overall I think the players

have begun to take to the new coaching

styles, the new coaching staff, and what

we’re asking them to do.

Louisiana Tech Lettermen's Club

April 2013

(Continued on Page 4)

Coach Holtz looks

on during Spring

practice.

(Continued from Page 1)

"I thought it was as good as it has looked all spring," Holtz said of the running game. "I thought Kenneth Dixon, he only carried the ball a couple times today, but I thought that (Marlon) Seets, (Rickey) Courtney, some of those guys went in there and really did a nice job of running the ball. I think Matt Moore has really done a nice job with this offensive line. They started creating some holes, but when you take Justin Ellis and IK (Enemkpali) out of the defensive front, it makes a difference."

Mike Schrang led all defenders with seven total tackles - includ-ing one for a loss of three yards - and was credited with a pass break-up. All seven of his tackles came while playing for the LA Tech team.

Jon Greenwalt was qui-etly impressive with five catches for 89 yards and caught five passes for 27 yards. Paul Turner turned heads with 62 receiving yards and two touchdowns while Hunter Lee had five catches for 45 yards.

Vernon Butler recorded six total tackles - five solo, one assisted - and had two sacks for a loss of seven yards with most of his action coming for the Bull-dogs team. Only one of Butler's tackles came while playing for the LA Tech team.

The coaching staff used players on both teams throughout the game.

After Seets gave the Bulldogs their only lead of the game on a game-opening seven-play, 75-yard drive for a 10-yard score the LA Tech team bounced back, scoring on three straight posses-sions.

The first two scores came on Young touchdown passes, the first being a 28-yard pass to Paul Turner. After forcing the Bulldogs team to a 3-and-out, LA Tech drove down the field and Young connected with Blake Martin on a seven-yard pass for a touch-down.

Page 2 Louisiana Tech Lettermen's Club Newsletter

LA Tech's defense was solid on the next drive as IK Enemkpali picked off Higgins and ran it back 38 yards for a touchdown.

The two teams traded field goals to start the second quarter - a 41-yard field goal for the Bulldogs by Kyle Fischer and a 45-yard field goal for LA Tech by T.J. Kijak.

Rickey Courtney scored on a seven-yard run with 7:49 left in the second quarter, capping a seven-play, 90-yard drive that was made propelled by a 63-yard run by Brandon Davis. Davis had the call on the next scoring drive for the Bulldogs, running into the end zone from three-yards out after Greenwalt caught a Hig-gins pass for 44 yards but was tripped up by Kentrell Brice before he could reach the end zone.

Right before the first half ended, Turner caught his second touch-down pass of the game with a nine-yard reception from Young capping off a 10-play drive that spanned 75 yards in 1:42.

The second half was largely uneventful and had a running game clock with no team scoring in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs team was able to add 10 points in the final frame with a Kyle Fischer 49-yard field goal and a Travis Reyes 23-yard pass from Paul Turner.

The Bulldogs had one more chance to score late in the game but turned the ball over on downs after three consecutive incomplete passes by Zach Griffith.

On the last drive of the game, the LA Tech team turned the ball over as Griffith, who switched sides, threw an interception that was picked off by Ronnie Fields and returned 26 yards as time expired. Griffith was 3-for-9 with one interception for 15 yards in the game.

The T-Day Spring Game wrapped up spring practice for the pro-gram. The team won't hit the field again until reporting for fall camp on Aug. 4. For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please follow @LATechFB on Twitter or visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.

Jeffry Cummings begins his first year as the Assistant Athletic Director over Ticket Operations in the Louisiana Tech Ticket Office. Cummings has spent the previous year as the Ticket Operations Associ-ate at Louisiana Tech.

Cummings comes to Ruston with experience working in both the LSU and Tulane athletic departments as well as for the New Orleans Zephyrs minor league baseball team. During his college days in Baton Rouge, he worked in the LSU athletic department helping coordinate promotions for men's basketball and women's soccer.

After graduating from LSU in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in general studies, Cummings spent seven months as a marketing and promotions intern for the Zephyrs where he worked extensively with the franchise's kids club.

Cummings then joined the Tulane family in September of 2008 as a marketing and promotions assistant in the athletic department where he worked in a number of areas including tickets, promotions, and marketing.

Introducing Jeff Cummings: Assistant AD/Ticket Operations

program. It helps with many things and it

also helps build the tradition that as a stu-

dent athlete, you helped to create. Former

letter winners’ participation and involve-

ment in the program provides the current

athletes greater opportunities for success

on and off the field.

Jerry Hudson on Why it’s Important for Former Louisiana Tech Athletes

to Stay Involved with Louisiana Tech Athletics

Lettermen’s Club member Jerry Hudson

of Ruston played football at Tech from

1958 to 1960.

“To me it’s a good way for Louisiana

Tech athletics to grow if the former Lou-

isiana Tech athletes participate in the

A Word from Coach Tim Rattay

Page 3 Louisiana Tech Lettermen's Club

With the beginning of a new era for Louisiana Tech Football, much excitement is surrounding our

program. We are pleased with how our players are buying in to our vision for this program, and we

are excited to finish spring practice on such a positive note. Out team’s focus and attitude could not be

any better as we move forward to summer conditioning. Damon Harrington (1995-99) will have our

players ready for our opening game on Aug. 31 vs. N.C. State.

As a former player and letter winner of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, I am excited to be back in Rus-

ton and working with Coach Skip Holtz and his staff. Coach Holtz has a great vision for this football

program, and he wants everyone to be a part of it. We want and need you back here, whether it is for

practice, a regular season game, or just to stop by and visit the facility. Our goal is to build a Letter-

man’s Club and bring back the athletes who helped build this program in to what it is today.

We hope each of you will come back and visit us here in Ruston. We appreciate your continued support for Louisiana

Tech Football by visiting with us, attending our games, and being loyal LA Tech Alums.

(Continued from Page 1)

we’re asking them to do. This being in terms of player develop-

ment, getting better with different approaches at the plate, dif-

ferent plays in the field, and some things like that that were

new to them but are starting to become more familiar. They’re

starting to execute those things at a higher level. So I couldn’t

really be more proud of the team thus far, and I honestly feel

like we’re right on track to where I expected us to be. We just

need to continue to get better, so that come May, we’re the best

we can possibly be—and who knows what can happen then.”

Q. How excited are you about the softball facility renovations,

and what do they mean for your program moving forward?

CM: “Well, to be honest, they’re a big reason I took the job.

The facilities are an absolute must in terms of recruiting quali-

fied student athletes to come to your program. While you can

have a great school and a great name, if you don’t have nice

facilities you’re still not going to get some of the better players.

So we want to have great facilities, and we want to build the

program so that our winning continues to help those facilities

improve. We’re in what I consider Phase 1. We want to make

sure we have a Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4 of facility

growth. We want that to happen because it shows our program

is on the rise and we can be back in a Top 25 setting to be com-

peting with the best in the nation.”

Q. What type of impact do you expect hosting the WAC tour-

nament to have on your program?

CM: “Well, anytime a conference tournament is in Ruston, like

cross country was earlier and softball now, I think it’s exciting

for the city of Ruston. For softball, it gives us the chance to

showcase our team, because there are people that will come to

a WAC tournament game who maybe haven’t ever been to a

softball game. We feel like if we can get them there, especially

in our new stands, they’ll like the product they see and they’ll

want to come back. So it’s a great way to showcase the reemer-

gence of Tech softball and what we’re trying to accomplish. “

Q. With offseason approaching, what will you and your staff’s

focus be on for improving the team for next season?

Right now, and a lot of people don’t know this, we already have

eight players—not for next season but the following season—

committed. So we work well in advance in terms of recruiting

efforts. We’ll be out continuing to work hard to build those rela-

tionships with the players and travel-ball coaches to keep the

best players coming to Louisiana Tech, and to keep the best

players in north Louisiana here at home to play at Tech instead

of taking their talents somewhere else.

You know if we’re doing our job suc-

cessfully, the best players are never go-

ing to leave this area.”

CM: “Also, I’d really like to speak of

what a great feeling everything has been

thus far; not only with facility enhance-

ments, but behind the scenes. Little

things that people wouldn’t know about.

We have three outstanding assistants in

coaches John Garris, Joanna Crowson, and Jeannie Douglas;

they do an amazing job of getting us prepared to play. Their

work has allowed me to go out into the public for community

relations events because I don’t have to worry about what's go-

ing on at the field when I’m not there. So there’s so many great

things happening, and I really believe Tech softball is going to

be a program that can get back to national distinction, like our

football and basketball programs have been, and I think we can

get to that level in a very short time.”

“I really believe Tech Softball is going to be a pro-gram that can get back to national distinction. And I think we can get to that level in a very short time.”

Louisiana Tech Lettermen's Club Newsletter Page 4

Follow LA Tech Softball on the Web!

Facebook.com/LouisianaTechSoftball

Twitter.com/LaTechSB

For more information on the

Louisiana Tech Lettermen’s

Club, contact Tyson Baldwin

at (318) 255-7950 or

Tyson@LaTechAlumni.org

THE PURPOSE OF THE LOUISIANA TECH LETTERMEN’S CLUB IS TO PROVIDE A

MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION FOR FORMER ATHLETES, COACHES, MANAGERS,

TRAINERS, AND STAFF THAT WILL CONTINUE THE LEGACY, TRADITION, AND VAL-

UES THAT COME FROM PARTICIPATING IN TECH ATHLETICS.

ANY FORMER PLAYER, COACH, MANAGER, TRAINER, OR ADMINISTRATOR CAN BE

A MEMBER OF THE LETTERMEN’S CLUB, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU WERE

AWARDED A LETTER.

LaTechAlumni.org/LTAC

Upcoming Events

Mon, Apr 29-Wed, May 1

Men’s Golf WAC Championships All Day

Fri, May 3

Baseball CSU Bakersfield* 6 p.m.

Softball Seattle University 5 and 7 p.m.

Sat, May 4

Baseball CSU Bakersfield* 1 p.m.

Softball Seattle University 3 p.m.

Sun, May 5

Baseball CSU Bakersfield* 1 p.m.

Wed, May 8

Baseball Rice* 6 p.m.

Wed, May 8-Sat, May 11

Softball WAC Tournament* All Day*

Track WAC Championships All Day

Friday, May 10

Baseball Dallas Baptist 6:30 p.m.

*Home game

For up-to-date information on all

LA Tech Sports, be sure to visit

LaTechSports.com