BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Louisiana Tech baseball team will take its eight-game winning streak to the Sunshine State this weekend, taking on the Conference USA leading Florida Atlantic Owls in a three-game series from Boca Raton, Florida.
 
Game one is set for Friday at 5:30 p.m. CT, while game two will start at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday. The weekend finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT on Sunday. All three games will be streamed live on CUSA.tv (subscription required) and broadcast live on KNBB 97.7 FM with Dave Nitz on the call.
 
LA Tech (22-10, 8-4 C-USA) and FAU (23-9, 11-1 C-USA) enter the weekend as two of the hottest teams in the league. The Bulldogs have won seven straight conference games, including a pair of back-to-back weekend sweeps, while the Owls have won eight of their last nine C-USA contests, and have yet to drop a league series in 2019.
 
The history between the two teams is rather limited, as the two have linked up in just five all-time meetings leading into this weekend. The last regular season meeting between the two programs took place back in 2014 in Boca Raton, where FAU took two of three from the Bulldogs.
 
Tech most recently completed the season sweep over in-state foe UL-Lafayette, staking a convincing 11-3 victory in Lafayette on Tuesday evening.
 
Tech senior closer Braxton Smith was honored for his performances over the weekend, picking up C-USA Pitcher of the Week honors after recording saves in all three of Tech's wins over the Roadrunners last weekend.
 
Smith, the first pitcher in C-USA with three saves in a weekend series this season, needed only a combined 40 pitches over the three contests. The right-hander allowed just one hit, while striking out five in the three high-pressure situations. Smith leads all Conference USA with seven saves this year, while opponents are hitting just .200 off him.
 
Meanwhile, Tech continued to see improved starts from its weekend rotation, beginning on Friday with senior captain Matt Miller. The right-hander improved to 4-0 after yet another solid start on Friday, tossing eight complete innings, while striking out seven and allowed just four hits and a pair of unearned runs.
 
In conference play, Miller is 3-0 with a 2.52 ERA in four starts. The right-hander leads the club with 25.0 innings pitched, while league foes have mustered just a .174 average off the senior.
 
From an offensive standpoint, Mason Mallard continues to lead the Bulldogs with a .377 batting average. The Whitehouse, Texas, native leads the team with 15 multiple-hit games, and has reached base safely in all 32 of Tech's contests in 2019.
 
Tech will stick with its normal weekend rotation in Miller (4-0, 3.45 ERA, 44.1 IP, 49 K, 19 BB), Logan Robbins (2-2, 7.32 ERA, 35.2 IP, 33 K, 18 BB) and Logan Bailey (4-3, 6.31 ERA, 41.1 IP 39 K, 17 BB), while FAU will counter with RHP Blake Sanderson (7-0, 3.29 ERA, 52.0 IP, 42 K, 11 BB) on Friday and RHP Mike Ruff (4-0, 5.44 ERA, 44.2 IP, 51 K, 16 BB) on Saturday. Sunday's starter has yet to be announced.