RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech baseball team starts its 30-game Conference USA slate this weekend they play host to Charlotte in a three-game series.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, March 17 (6 p.m.) | Saturday, March 18 (2 p.m.) | Sunday, March 19 (11 a.m.)
Location: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park
TV/Stream: CUSA.tv
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Radio: Sportstalk 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Tickets: LATechSports.com/Tickets
Rotation: Jonathan Fincher (Friday), TBA (Saturday), TBA (Sunday)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (9-8)
The Bulldogs are coming off a midweek split with Air Force. The two games were the complete opposite on the mound as LA Tech recorded its first shutout of the season in game one with four pitchers combining for 17 strikeouts in route to a 5-0 victory. In game two, the Bulldogs gave up 13 hits and allowed nine freebies in a 12-10 loss to the Falcons.
 
Logan McLeod had a great series at the plate versus Air Force, batting .667 with four hits and two walks. He collected two hits in each game, bringing his season total of multi-hit games to four.
 
Freshman Karson Evans continued his hot bat against the Falcons. He tallied three total hits to go along with three RBIs. He has registered at least one RBI in each of the last five games he has started while sporting a team-best .368 batting average.
 
Landon Tomkins had a bounce-back game on the bump. After struggling in his outing at Arkansas, he made his first career start (51st career appearance) and ended up improving to 3-0 after three shutout innings. It was the fifth time this season he has thrown at least two innings of shutout baseball in a game.
 
ABOUT CHARLOTTE (6-10)
Charlotte enters the weekend having lost two straight and six of its last seven (four of those defeats came against top-25 opponents in Virginia Tech and North Carolina).  They have yet to win on the road this season, dropping all four away from home.
 
Four 49ers – Jack Dragum, Austin Knight, Jake Cunningham, and Cam Fisher – made the preseason All-Conference USA team.  Fisher has been the best 49er thus far, batting .368 with an OPS of 1.438.  He has recorded 21 hits with 10 of those leaving the yard (the 10 home runs ranks third in the country).  Pitching wise, Wyatt Hudepohl has made four starts, having thrown a team-high 23.1 innings.
 
Despite its record, Charlotte ranks fifth in the nation in total walks (126) and top 50 in fielding percentage (.978), home runs (25), and strikeouts per nine innings (10.9).
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech begins its ninth season of C-USA baseball (2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19). This will be the seventh series meeting between LA Tech and Charlotte. The 49ers own a 13-8 edge in the series, but the Bulldogs have won four of the last five meetings.
 
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