RUSTON, La. – Louisiana Tech's baseball team will ride a five-game winning streak into a Tuesday night clash against I-20 neighbor ULM. The newly ranked Bulldogs will put their 8-2 home record to the test against the Warhawks at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening.
 
LA Tech (13-5) earned its way into the top 25 in two polls – Perfect Game's poll and D1Baseball's poll. Perfect Game ranked the Bulldogs No. 21 in the nation, while D1Baseball tabbed LA Tech as the 23^rd best team in the country. LA Tech also received 58 votes in the USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll, tying with Southern Illinois and Arizona for teams with the most votes not to crack the top 25.
 
Tuesday night's game will be streamed live on CUSA.tv. It will be LA Tech's final home midweek game of the 2021 season. The No. 21 Diamond Dogs will play 28 straight games against Conference USA opponents following Tuesday night's contest.
 
Game Information
Game Time: 6 p.m.
Location: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park
TV/Stream: CUSA.tv
Radio/Streamed Radio Broadcast: KNBB 97.7 FM | latechsports.com
 
Projected Starting Pitchers (Tuesday)
 
LA Tech: Cade Gibson (LHP)
 
2021: 1-1, 4.15 ERA, 17.1 IP, 15 K, 5 BB
 
ULM: Nicholas Judice (RHP)
 
2021: 1-0, 2.45 ERA, 7.1 IP, 11 K, 1 BB
 
About the No. 21 Diamond Dogs
No. 21 Louisiana Tech continued its dominant pitching run into the weekend down in New Orleans, sweeping Tulane in a three-game series behind two complete-game shutouts from Bulldog starting pitchers. Friday night ace Jonathan Fincher allowed just one hit and faced only two batters over the minimum in a lights-out performance at Turchin Stadium. Fincher outdueled Tulane ace Braden Olthoff to hand the Green Wave their first loss with Olthoff on the mound.
 
Fincher's outstanding performance earned him Conference USA Co-Pitcher of the Week honors. It marked the second straight week a Bulldog pitcher has been honored with the award.
 
Right-hander Ryan Jennings built on Fincher's momentum on Saturday, allowing just two hits to record Tech's third complete-game shutout in a four-game stretch. LA Tech allowed only one run over a four-game stretch from March 14's win over Arkansas to Saturday's 4-0 victory over Tulane, marking the first time since 1985 that Bulldog pitching allowed just one run over a four-game period. Three RBI from centerfielder Parker Bates provided Jennings with the needed run support to go the distance on Saturday.
 
Reigning National Pitcher of the Week Jarret Whorff then battled through six innings in a Sunday slugfest, allowing only four earned runs. Whorff responded with three straight scoreless frames after allowing four runs (three earned) over the first two innings. LA Tech's second, third, fourth and fifth batters in the lineup each scored two runs in the 8-6 win. Senior Tyler Follis nailed down the second save of his career after entering the game in the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs. Follis got the final Tulane batter to ground into a fielder's choice to end the game.
 
LA Tech's win at Tulane pushed the Bulldogs' record to 10-3 against in-state foes in 2021. The Bulldogs also upped their record to 5-0 on "championship" Sundays this season. After dropping its first three games on the road, Tech has won four straight away from J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
 
After a come-from-behind win at ULM on March 9, the Bulldogs hold a 72-51 all-time record against the Warhawks. The Diamond Dogs have won nine of the last 10 meetings in the series. LA Tech scored seven runs in the seventh inning to pull ahead for good in the most recent matchup.
 
Scouting ULM
ULM is 9-7 on the year following an impressive 3-1 week. The Warhawks kicked off their week with a Tuesday night win over No. 14 Oklahoma State at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Just like the Bulldogs, ULM recorded back-to-back wins over top-15 opponents on March 14 and this past Tuesday. ULM scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back in the 13-6 triumph.
 
The Warhawks then earned a series victory in their opening weekend of Sun Belt Conference play, winning the final two games of the weekend to take two of three from Georgia State. All three games between the Warhawks and Panthers were decided by two runs or fewer.
 
ULM outfielder Mason Holt leads the Warhawks in batting average (.328), hits (21), runs scored (19), home runs (three), total bases (37) and a handful of other categories. ULM's Nicholas Judice will make his first-career start on Tuesday against LA Tech's Cade Gibson. Judice owns an impressive 11/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 2021.
 
Up Next
No. 21 LA Tech will open Conference USA play at Southern Miss on Friday, beginning a stretch of 28 straight C-USA contests. All Conference USA series this season will consist of four games, one nine-inning game on Friday, two seven-inning games on Saturday and a final nine-inning game on Sunday.