FAYETTEVILLE — The player nicknamed “Country Ohtani” — also known as Ethan Bates — will lead Louisiana Tech’s baseball team against Kansas State on Friday night at the NCAA Fayetteville Regional.
Bates, a senior from Hot Springs Lakeside High School, has developed into a hitting and pitching star after starting his college career at the University of Arkansas.
With a Division I-leading 17 saves to go with 15 home runs, 21 doubles and 74 RBI as a designated hitter, Bates’ nickname is a reference to Shohei Ohtani, a two-way star with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Considering the population for Los Angeles was listed as 3.82 million last year compared to 38,109 for Hot Springs and 22,295 for Ruston, La. — where Louisiana Tech is located — the “Country” part of Bates’ nickname seems appropriate.
“Four-wheelers, that’s his thing,” Louisiana Tech Coach Lane Burroughs said after the Bulldogs’ Thursday practice. “I promise you he would have rather been in Hot Springs working on a four-wheeler right now than in here talking to you guys.
“He’s just a great young man. He loves to hunt and fish. And he’s obviously a really, really good ballplayer.”
Bates, who throws right-handed and bats left-handed, was named Conference USA Player of the Year.
“He’s the top two-way player in the country,” Kansas State Coach Pete Hughes said as he rattled off Bates’ stats. “They’ve gotten their money’s worth out of that guy, right?”
Bates said he enjoyed being at Baum-Walker Stadium on Thursday for regional practices and is looking forward to playing on Arkansas’ home field Friday night.
“Just kind of taking it all in,” Bates said. “Just really excited to be back up here and see a bunch of friends and family that I haven’t gotten to see in a while.
“I’ve loved being at Tech. It’s been the best fit for me.”
Bates played in 17 games as a freshman for the Razorbacks in 2021 as an outfielder and third baseman, including eight starts. He batted .250 (9 of 36) with 6 RBI.
“Ethan, what a great kid,” Arkansas Coach Dave Van Horn said this week. “I mean, he’s not a kid anymore. He’s a full-grown man.
“He came in here and struggled a little bit, but we could see [the talent] in him. He really wanted to play.”
To get more playing time, Bates transferred to Navarro (Texas) Junior College for his sophomore season. He said that before going to Navarro, he already was hoping to land at Louisiana Tech.
“We played down at Tech my freshman year and I really liked it,” Bates said of Arkansas’ three-game series in Ruston. “Loved the field, loved the atmosphere.
“Whenever I did decide to leave [Arkansas] and go to Navarro, that’s kind of where I set my sights on.”
Burroughs was glad to add Bates, who batted .324 (56 for 173) with 3 home runs, 4 triples and 15 doubles with 34 RBI in 52 games. Bates also pitched in 5 games at Navarro and had a 3.24 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.
“We were not aware of the pitching,” Burroughs said. “We knew he could hit.
“A coach at Navarro called and told us, ‘Hey, you might want to look at him on the mound. I think the dude can pitch a little bit.’
“We did put him out there in the fall [of 2022], and he just started carving us up. We thought, ‘Hey, we might be onto something.’ It was kind of by accident.
“It was good stuff. It’s velocity and plus-plus command. Plus slider, plus changeup.”
Bates batted .281 with 15 home runs and 35 RBI and 6 saves with a 3.16 ERA as a junior, then took his hitting to another level this season.
“When he’s in the [batter’s] box, we always expect something really good to happen,” Louisiana Tech right fielder Dalton Davis said. “He’s come through in the clutch a bunch of times. He always finds a way.”
Bates has pitched 43 2/3 innings in 35 games this season.
“I’ve been doing this for 28 years at this level and I don’t think I’ve ever coached a kid that wants the baseball [more] in the most stressful situations,” Burroughs said. “High leverage, he wants it. He wants to be the man at the plate when the game’s on the line.
“We’ve rode him extremely hard this year. I mean 17 saves, that’s kind of unheard of in college baseball. But he takes the baseball, man. He’s never turned us down. He’s a team-first guy.”
Louisiana Tech (45-17) won its last six Conference USA games with sweeps of Western Kentucky and Liberty to win the regular-season title with an 18-6 record — one game ahead of Dallas Baptist (17-7).
The Bulldogs started their closing run when Bates hit a 3-2 pitch for a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against Western Kentucky senior Mason Burns — second nationally with 15 saves — to lift Louisiana Tech to a 9-7 victory.
Burroughs smiled Thursday as he recalled Bates’ heroics.
“I don’t think you could have drawn it up any better,” Burroughs said. “He’s facing the guy that he’s tied in the country with in saves. They’ve kind of been in a race the entire year on who’s going to be the national leader in saves. Ethan hits a three-run homer off him, walks it off.
“He’s just that guy. He has that ‘it’ factor. I know that’s coach speak and cliche, but he does.
“The thing about Ethan is he’s ultra, ultra competitive.”
Van Horn said Arkansas’ coaches spoke to Bates about the possibility of pitching.
“That wasn’t his first love, honestly,” Van Horn said. “That’s the way it is with a lot of kids.
“It’s just that we knew Ethan had a great arm and power from the left side as a hitter. But when he got to Tech, it’s all come out.
“As an older player and confident, he’s been lights out.”
