RUSTON, La. – Coming off the historic 2021 baseball season, Louisiana Tech opens up the 2022 season with a three-game set this Friday at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park against Wichita State at 6 p.m. This season marks the first time since 2017 that the Bulldogs have hosted opening weekend in Ruston.
SERIES INFORMATION
Date/Time: Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. | Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. | Feb. 20 at 1 p.m.
Location: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park (Ruston, La.)
TV: CUSA.TV (
GAME 1) (
GAME 2)
Radio:
Dave Nitz on 97.7 FM
Audio: LA Tech Athletics App
Stats: LATechSports.com
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (0-0, 0-0 C-USA)
Louisiana Tech opens up the 2022 season coming off one of the best years in program history. The Bulldogs finished 2021 with a 42-20 overall record and 22-8 record in conference play.
LA Tech won the Conference USA West Division, hosted the conference tournament and became a host for the NCAA Regionals for the first time in program history.
The Bulldogs return the majority of the starting lineup led by seniors
Taylor Young,
Steele Netterville and
Philip Matulia. Young led the country in runs scored, coming around to score 83 times.
Jonathan Fincher,
Ryan Jennings and
Jarret Whorff return to the mound as the probable weekend starters for this season. Fincher has earned numerous accolades this offseason including C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year and
a third team Preseason All-American by D1Baseball.
ABOUT WICHITA STATE (0-0, 0-0 AAC)
Wichita State rolls into 2022 coming off a 31-23 overall record, finishing third in the American Athletic Conference with an 18-13 mark. The Shockers went 10-10 in road games with a 13-10 record in non-conference games in 2021.
Wichita State Head Coach Eric Wedge enters his third season and holds a 44-25 overall record since taking over the program. Wedge led the Shockers to their best finish in the American Athletic Conference since joining in 2018.
The Shockers return veteran leadership bringing back 16 letterwinners and seven starters. Catcher Ross Cadena, infielders Garrett Kocis and Jack Sigrist, and outfielders Cooper Cornblum, Chuck Ingram and Seth Stroh all return to lead the offense. Sigrist looks to lead the pack after batting .321 last season
Right-hander Jace Kaminska will take the mound Friday night for Wichita State after a dominant freshman season. Kaminska tossed 62.0 innings, posting an 8-1 record with a 2.32 ERA and a 51/19 strikeout-to-walk ratio. True freshman southpaw Payton Tolle will start in Saturday's afternoon game and right-handed sophomore Will Stevens will get the nod in the finale on Sunday.
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs and Shockers have met six times. The home team is undefeated as LA Tech swept Wichita State in 2017 in Ruston (6-2, 15-1, 12-10) and the Shockers took the last three games in Wichita in the shortened 2020 season (6-2, 5-3, 10-9).
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