RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech baseball team faces Southern Miss for the second time in eight days as the Bulldogs head to Hattiesburg for a midweek contest.
 
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Wednesday, April 26 | 6 p.m. CT
Location: Pete Taylor Park (Hattiesburg, Miss.)
TV/Stream: ESPN+
Stats: LATechSports.com/Stats
Radio: Sportstalk 97.7 FM | LA Tech Athletics app
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (20-21)
LA Tech ran into arguably the hottest team in the country this past weekend, dropping all three conference road games to 18th-ranked Dallas Baptist.  It marked the first time the Bulldogs were swept in a league series since 2019.
 
The 'Dogs were outscored, 30-9, as the Patriots extended their winning streak to 14, which is tied for the second longest active streak in the nation.  Ethan Bates was the standout at the plate for LA Tech, batting .375 with three RBIs (all coming in game three) to go along with three walks.
 
Dalton Davis had a team-best four hits against DBU with zero strikeouts in his 13 at bats.  He currently ranks 42nd in the country in toughest to strike out, having gone the last nine games without being struck out.  For the season, he is batting .275 with a team-best 44 hits (almost has more walks than strikeouts – 14 walks to 15 strikeouts).
 
Pitching wise, Bates also threw 1.0 inning in the DBU series, allowing no runs and no hits while striking out two.  Fellow reliever Landon Tomkins struck out four in his 3.0 innings of work.  He currently ranks fourth in the league and 98th in the country in strikeouts per nine innings (10.80).
 
ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS (23-15)
Southern Miss snapped a three-game losing skid this past Sunday when they salvaged the final game in their Sun Belt Conference series at Coastal Carolina.  The Golden Eagles scored nine runs over the final two innings to capture a 15-7 victory.
 
It was a high-scoring affair all series with the Chanticleers outscoring the Golden Eagles, 42-29.  Almost half of that came in game two when Coastal Carolina produced a 20-7 victory over USM.
 
Southern Miss closes out a five-game road stretch tonight at Tulane before facing LA Tech on Wednesday.  Outfielder Slade Wilks continues to pace the team offensively, batting .336 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs.  Four of those RBIs came in game three against Coastal Carolina
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech and Southern Miss will meet for the 49th time (on record since 1972).  The 48th meeting came a week ago on April 18 in Ruston with the Bulldogs prevailing, 3-1.  Jorge Corona contributed two RBIs while Walker Burchfield hit what would be the go-ahead solo home run while the pitching trio of Reed Smith, Ryan Harland, and Tomkins allowed just one run on four scattered hits.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For all the latest in Bulldog Baseball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechBSB), Instagram (@LATechBSB), and Facebook (LATechBSB).