RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech baseball team closes out the regular season with a home series against UTSA.  The Bulldogs are in a three-way tie for fifth in the C-USA standings.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
Dates/Times: Thursday, May 18 (6 p.m.) | Friday, May 19 (6 p.m.) | Saturday, May 20 (Noon)
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 (Thursday), TBA (Friday), TBA (Saturday)
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (26-27, 14-13 C-USA)
LA Tech is coming off a conference road series at Florida Atlantic where the Bulldogs won one of the three games.  They took game two versus the Owls, winning 12-6 in 16 innings (tied for the second longest game in program history on record). 
 
The rubber game also went into extras with FAU take the series by winning 12-11 in 10 innings.  Logan McLeod, Ethan Bates, and Dalton Davis each collected six hits versus the Owls, combining for four doubles and four home runs.
 
McLeod is hitting a team-best .296 while also leading the squad in on-base percentage (.426).  After getting hit twice in the series, he is now tied for the single-season record for most times being hit by a pitch (20 times).  Davis now has a team-high 60 hits while Bates now has 14 homers (has hit a home run in seven of the last 12 games).
 
Fincher is slated to take the mound Thursday night for his final start at the Love Shack.  He is 8-4 on the season with a 4.32 ERA.  Bates anchors the team in ERA at 2.45, having thrown 9.1 innings of shutout baseball in the last three games (threw 5.0 shutout innings in the win over FAU in relief). 
 
ABOUT UTSA (36-16, 19-7 C-USA)
After winning 11 of their first 12 series (tied the other) of the season, UTSA dropped all three games at home to Dallas Baptist this past weekend.  That was followed up by a 10-8 midweek loss at Abilene Christian.
 
The Roadrunners are in second in the C-USA standings and ranked as high as No. 22 in the country a week ago.  They are 11-8 away from home, having won or tied every road league series.
 
UTSA ranks first in C-USA and 17th in the nation in batting average at .312.  Five Roadrunners are batting at least .300, led by Antonio Valdez who is hitting .394 with 11 home runs and 63 RBIs.  His 80 total hits is the most of any player in the league.
 
Pitching wise, Simon Miller has appeared in 25 games and owns a 7-1 record as well as 11 saves.  Ulises Quiroga is one of the primary starters for the Roadrunners with a 7-2 record and a 5.59 ERA.
 
THE SERIES
LA Tech leads the all-time series over UTSA, 18-15.  The Bulldogs have won 13 of the last 16 meetings, including a 9-8 victory in the title game last season in the C-USA Tournament in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 
 
LA Tech took two of three from UTSA during the regular season last year, a series played in San Antonio, Texas.  The Bulldogs played the Roadrunners eight times at home in 2019 and 2021, winning seven of those matchups.
 
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