Game Notes

RUSTON, La. - With the 2015 baseball season coming to a close, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs are set to wrap up the campaign with a three-game Conference USA home series against Marshall, which begins at 6 p.m. Thursday at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in Ruston.

Following Thursday night's series opener, LA Tech and Marshall will play the middle game of the weekend at 6 p.m. Friday before wrapping up the season at 1 p.m. Saturdayon Senior Day.

"These guys have earned a lot of respect from coaches in this league because this group doesn't have any quit in them," head coach Greg Goff said. "These seniors love Louisiana Tech and this program. From the time I took over, these guys have been very loyal and supportive, so that says a lot about the integrity and character of our players. We are looking forward to the weekend and a great day on Saturday with having all the families and friends come out for our last game."

LA Tech comes into the series fresh off one of its better offensive performances of the season after the Bulldogs exploded for 13 runs on 14 hits, including two grand slams, in a win over Northwestern State earlier this week. Tech is looking to end the regular season on a positive note with the Bulldogs eager to bounce back in league play after getting swept on the road last week at Old Dominion. LA Tech enters the weekend at 24-25 overall with a 7-19 mark in Conference USA games.

Marshall heads to Ruston in a three-way tie for ninth place in the C-USA standings and one spot shy of making the eight-team Conference USA Baseball tournament. With an 18-31 overall record and a 10-17 mark in league play, the Thundering Herd have plenty left to play for and have stepped up lately having won four of their last five C-USA series. Marshall has struggled on the road this season with just a 6-18 record in road games coming into the final series of the season.

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SERIES HISTORY

Louisiana Tech will host the Thundering Herd for the first time this weekend in the regular season finale after the Bulldogs traveled to West Virginia a season ago to play Marshall. With just three meetings between LA Tech and Marshall, the Herd lead the all-time series, 2-1, after taking two of three from the Bulldogs late last season in Conference USA action. Marshall defeated Tech, 4-3, in 10 innings to open the three-game set before the Herd took the series with a 7-3 win over the Bulldogs in the middle game. In the series finale, LA Tech scored in five different innings and held off a late Marshall rally to salvage the series with an 8-7 win.

SCOUTING REPORT

At the plate

Louisiana Tech comes into its last series of the season with a .261 team average with 59 doubles and 27 home runs. The Bulldogs are currently ranked fifth in Conference USA with a .361 on base percentage, while LA Tech is ranked first in the league and second in the nation in hit by pitch (86). As the team, LA Tech is hitting .261 with Taylor Nichols leading the way with a .302 clip. Both Stark and Taylor Love have both driven in a team-high 31 runs batted in over the course of the season.

Marshall heads to Ruston ranked 10th in Conference USA with a .256 team batting average with 74 doubles, seven triples and 20 home runs. The Thundering Herd are led by junior second baseman Aaron Bossi, who is currently hitting .310 with eight doubles and 14 RBIs, while slugger TJ Diffenderfer (.292 BA) leads Marshall with 10 doubles, four home runs and 28 RBIs.

On the mound

The Bulldogs will stick with right-hander Phil Maton (4-3, 3.18 ERA) in the series opener as the senior will make his final start in what has been a decorated career on the mound. Maton leads LA Tech and C-USA with 80 strikeouts this season and will end the season first in career innings pitched and second all-time on Tech's career strikeouts list. Another senior will take to the mound Friday with right-hander Laetten Galbraith (3-7, 3.58 ERA) set for his ninth start of the season for the Bulldogs. On Saturday, junior Tyler Clancy (6-5, 4.94 ERA) will close out the season on the mound in what will be his 14th start of the 2015 campaign.

The Thundering Herd will send a trio of junior right-handers to the mound this weekend with Chase Boster (6-1, 2.39 ERA) and JD Hammer (2-5, 3.89 ERA) getting the start in the first two games after recording wins last weekend over WKU. Michael Taylor (2-6, 3.40 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale for Marshall.

WITH THE CALL

Fans can tune in to the LA Tech Sports Network on KNBB 97.7 FM to hear Dave Nitz call all the action for all three games against Marshall this weekend in Ruston. The series between LA Tech and Marshall can also be seen and heard by LA Tech All-Access subscribers, while live stats will be available by accessing the link on the baseball schedule page on LATechSports.com.

SENIOR SEND-OFF

The series finale against Marshall will mark Senior Day for 12 Louisiana Tech baseball players. These 12 Bulldogs will be honored prior to the start of Saturday's 1 p.m. first pitch against the Thundering Herd. The 12 seniors this year are: Jacob Derouen, Laetten Galbraith, Austin Greer, Colby Johnson, Jared Keating, Bre'shon Kimbell, Phil Maton, Taylor Nichols, Bo Parker, Thomas Simoneaux, Jordan Taylor and Conner Tobias.

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