RUSTON – The Diamond 'Dogs (15-10, 2-1 CUSA) are set for their Conference USA home opening series with the Kennesaw State Owls (10-15, 2-1 CUSA) starting on Friday, March 28 at 6 p.m. CT. The weekend's series marks the inaugural matchup between the two programs.
 
Series Information
Date: Mar. 28-30, 2025
Venue: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park (Ruston, La.)
Time: 6 p.m. CT (Friday) | 2 p.m. CT (Saturday) | 1 p.m. CT (Sunday)
Watch: ESPN+
Radio: Sportstalk 97.7 FM / LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/stats
Weekend Rotation: Grant Hubka (Friday) | Luke Cooley (Saturday) | TBA (Sunday)
 
Series History
Series Record: First Meeting
Last Meeting: N/A
Streak: N/A
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a midweek win securing their 29th consecutive victory over Grambling State on Tuesday, 14-6. Garrison Berkley belted a pair of bombs, becoming the first Bulldog to hit multiple homers in back-to-back games since Jorge Corona did it at New Mexico State in 2024. Thaxton Berch also homered in Tuesday's victory to give him his second career homer in as many games.
 
Michael Ballard still leads the team with five home runs and 20 RBI, while Berkley leads the team in batting average (.343), on-base percentage (.427), slugging percentage (.596), base hits (34), doubles (9), runs (29) and stolen bases (7). The graduate outfielder is also tied with Brody Drost and Sebastian Mexico for the most triples at two each.
 
Previewing the Owls
Kennesaw State enters the weekend as one of the newest members of Conference USA after spending the previous 19 seasons as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, where they saw two ASUN tournament championships and one regular-season conference championship. The program has been to two NCAA Regionals since 2014, including an appearance in the Louisville Super Regional in 2014. In 2022, the Owls won their conference tournament to earn an automatic bid, but fell short of advancing to a second Super Regional after falling to LSU and Southern Miss in the Hattiesburg Regional.
 
The Owls are led by head coach Ryan Coe, who is in his fourth year at the helm of Kennesaw State's baseball program. During his tenure, he has amassed a record of 103-96 and led the Owls to the Hattiesburg Regional in his first year as the skipper, along with becoming the only head coach in ASUN history to win the conference tournament in their first year with the team. Coe is also the fastest head coach in Kennesaw State history to achieve 71 wins.
 
The Owls roster is lined with power, having three players with at least four homers this season including team leaders Donovan Cash and Cam Suto who each have five taters on the year. Cash leads the team in doubles (9), RBI (18) and SLG (.542). Chris Cole and Cooper Williams are the only KSU players batting above .300, with Cole also leading the team in base hits (32), walks (19) and stolen bases (12). Nate Anderson is another sparkplug for the Owls' offense, batting .286 with a team-best 21 runs, four homers, 14 RBI and is 8-9 when stealing a base.
 
The Owls opened up their inaugural Conference USA weekend series at home against Western Kentucky, who was entering the weekend with a then 20-1 record, which was the best start by a CUSA team ever. The Owls took Game 1, 9-8, before the Hilltoppers forced a rubber match by taking Saturday's game, 4-1. In the series finale, the Owls took a 3-1 lead in the third and never looked back, ending the game with an 8-2 victory and winning their first series as CUSA members.
 
KSU's weekend rotation lines up with righty Ty Bayer on Friday, Harry Cain on Saturday and Sunday's pitcher to be announced. Bayer, a 6-foot 4-inch 190-pound native of Cumming, Georgia, holds a 1-1  record through seven appearances with five starts this year. He carries a 5.48 ERA through 23 innings of work with 24 strikeouts (tied for team high with Ryan Renfroe), 13 walks and 20 hits allowed. Cain, a 6-foot 6-inch 235-pound righty from Atlanta, is set to make just his third start on his 10th appearance of the year. Cain is also 1-1 on the season while carrying in a 4.57 ERA through 21.2 innings. He has 22 punchouts while allowing 11 earned runs on 19 hits and 11 walks.
 
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