RUSTON – Louisiana Tech makes its first road trip of the 2023 season to face defending national champion and No. 4-ranked Ole Miss in a two-game midweek series.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Tuesday, Feb. 28 (4 p.m. CT) | Wednesday, March 1 (4 p.m. CT)
Location: Oxford-University Stadium/Swayze Field (Oxford, Miss.)
TV/Stream: SECN+ | WatchESPN
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Radio: Sportstalk 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (4-3)
After splitting the four-game series with BYU, LA Tech took two of three from Nicholls State. The Bulldogs outscored the Colonels, 14-11, and banged out 11 extra-base hits.
 
Philip Matulia was voted as the Conference USA Hitter of the Week after batting .389 with seven hits (four of the home run variety) and 10 runs batted in. He had a career game in the series opener versus the Colonels, recording a career-high four hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs.
 
C-USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year Jonathan Fincher was electric in his Friday night start against Nicholls. He went 7.0 innings while allowing just four hits and one run. It marked his 20th career victory on the mound, one shy of cracking the top 10 in program history.
 
ABOUT OLE MISS (6-1)
Defending NCAA national champion Ole Miss has picked up right where they left off, having won six of their seven games so far in 2023.  The Rebels opened the year with a three-game sweep versus Delaware, then picked up a midweek win over Arkansas State, and took two of three from No. 13-ranked Maryland this past weekend.
 
Ole Miss, who is ranked as high as No. 4 in the country currently, has been crushing the baseball.  The Rebels rank in the top 10 in the nation in batting average (.361), home runs (18), and slugging percentage (.670).  They have scored double-digit runs in six of their seven games.
 
Calvin Harris has been one of their early studs, batting .444 with a team-high 12 hits and 11 runs scored.  Jacob Gonzalez is one of four Rebels with at least 10 RBIs, leading the way with 14.
 
The pitching has been dominant as well, averaging 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranks seventh in the country.
 
THE SERIES
Ole Miss leads the all-time series over Louisiana Tech, 22-10.  The two programs last faced one another in 2021 when the Bulldogs pounded the Rebels, 13-1, in Ruston at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.  It was scheduled to be a two-game series, but the second game was canceled.
 
LA Tech last faced Ole Miss in Oxford in 2003.  The Bulldogs last win over the Rebels in Oxford came in 1989.  This will be the first time since 2009 that LA Tech will face the defending national champion.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Bulldog Baseball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechBSB), Instagram (@LATechBSB), and Facebook (LATechBSB).