RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech baseball team hosts Dallas Baptist in a three-game conference series this weekend. The Bulldogs and Patriots will face one another three more times in Dallas in late April.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Dates/Times: Friday, March 31 (3 p.m.) | Saturday, April 1 (2 p.m.) | Sunday, April 2 (1 p.m.)
Location: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park (Ruston, La.)
TV/Stream: CUSA.tv
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Radio: Sportstalk 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
Tickets: LATechSports.com/Tickets
Weekend Rotation: Jonathan Fincher (Friday), Alec Sparks (Saturday), TBA (Sunday)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (13-12, 3-3 C-USA)
LA Tech had one of its most complete games of the season this past Tuesday against Sacramento State, defeating the former conference foe, 14-4. The Bulldogs banged out a season-high 16 hits, seven of which were went for extra bases. They also got a quality start from right-hander Reed Smith who went 5.0 innings while allowing just one run on three hits and striking out five for his first victory as a Bulldog.
 
The Bulldogs recorded four home runs versus the Hornets, three of which came in the fourth inning (first time since 2021 with three homers in one inning). Jorge Corona had his second multi-homer game of the season in route to a 4-for-5 hitting night. After returning to the lineup following an illness, he has hit safely in six of the seven games while batting .379.
 
LA Tech currently ranks first in C-USA and 40th in the country in total home runs with 36, nine of those coming off the bat of Philip Matulia. The outfielder has hit nine homers in 23 games played this season, already matching his single-season total of nine from last sea­son (64 games).
 
Jonathan Fincher is expected to get the Friday night start.  The left-hander is 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA to go along with 39 strikeouts.  In his two C-USA starts, he is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA.  Alec Sparks is scheduled to get his third straight start in a conference series.  His last outing versus WKU, he went 6.0 innings and allowed just three runs in the victory.
 
ABOUT DALLAS BAPTIST (17-8, 4-2 C-USA)
Dallas Baptist, who is in its first season as a member of Conference USA, heads to Ruston having won 10 of its last 12 games.  Among those were conference series wins over FIU and Charlotte as well as victories over Oklahoma and No. 13 Oklahoma State.
 
DBU, who has gone to 11 NCAA Regionals since 2008, is batting .272 as a team.  Four Patriots have recorded at least 28 hits this season, anchored by Kodie Kolden who is batting a team-best .326.  They currently rank first in the league in sacrifice flies (15) as well as stolen bases (65).  They average 2.60 stolen bases per game, which ranks 12th in the country.
 
The Patriots also rank second in the country in strikeouts per nine innings with 12.3.  Their pitching staff has 298 strikeouts, almost 100 more than their opponents.  Ryan Johnson, Braxton Bragg, and Bryson Hammer are scheduled to make starts this weekend.
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech leads the all-time series with Dallas Baptist, 14-10.  The two teams met last season with the Patriots winning a midweek contest in Ruston, 7-4, while the Bulldogs prevailed, 12-5, in the first game of the NCAA Regional in Austin, Texas.
 
This will be the second time ever the two programs face off as conference opponents.  They were league foes for one season in the Western Athletic Conference in 2013. 
 
LA Tech is 11-4 versus DBU in Ruston.  The first ever meeting came in Ruston, a four-game series back in 1982. 
 
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