RUSTON – Louisiana Tech (17-11, 4-2 CUSA) looks ahead to a pair of midweek contests on the road against in-state opponents, set to face the seventh-ranked LSU Tigers (26-3, 7-2 SEC) at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, April 1 before traveling to Lafayette for a battle with the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns (14-15, 6-3 Sun Belt) at M.L. 'Tigue' Moore Field at Russo Park on Wednesday, April 2. Tuesday's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. CT start time with Wednesday's game set for 6 p.m. CT.
 
LSU Game Information
Date: Apr. 1, 2025
Venue: Alex Box Stadium (Baton Rouge, La.)
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Watch: SEC Network+
Radio: Sportstalk 97.7 FM / LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/stats
 
Series History
Series Record: 8-19 vs. LSU
Last Meeting: Mar. 19, 2024 (L, 1-11)
Streak: L1 


UL-Lafayette Game Information
Date: Apr. 2, 2025
Venue: M.L. 'Tigue' Moore Field at Russo Park (Lafayette, La.)
Time: 6 p.m. CT
Watch: N/A
Radio: Sportstalk 97.7 FM / LA Tech Athletics app
Stats: LATechSports.com/stats
 
Series History
Series Record: 59-71 vs. UL-Lafayette
Last Meeting: Apr. 10, 2024 (W, 7-2)
Streak: W1
 
The Bulldogs are coming off their third-straight series win, and second consecutive Conference USA series win and have won seven of their last 10 games. Luke Cooley, who was named CUSA's Pitcher of the Week on Monday, allowed Tech to force the rubber match with eight shutout no-hit innings with the help of a five-run eighth inning put on by the home bats.
 
Tuesday's game marks the 28th all-time meeting with LSU since their first matchup in 1970, when the Bulldogs won in Baton Rouge, 3-2, and took the first four games of the all-time series. LA Tech has taken two of the last three games over the Tigers after winning just two in the previous 20 matchups.
 
The last time Tech won at Alex Box Stadium was back in 2022 in a thrilling 11-inning 7-6 triumph. Before an 11-1 blowout victory by Tech in Baton Rouge in 2019, the Bulldogs had lost the last 12 times playing on the Tigers' home field.
 
Wednesday will be the 131st time the Ragin' Cajuns face the Bulldogs since 1970. The two programs split the two-game season series last year, with UL-Lafayette taking the first game in Ruston, 9-5, before the Bulldogs came back with a 7-2 victory over a Ragin' Cajun team that was ranked No. 19 in the country at the time. Prior to Tech's win in Lafayette, the Ragin' Cajuns had taken the previous two games played on their home field, 2-0 and 7-2, in 2023.
 
Previewing the Tigers
The seventh-ranked LSU Tigers are coming off a series sweep at home over Mississippi State to improve to a 7-2 record in SEC play and 26-3 overall. Before hosting the Bulldogs, the Tigers topped UL-Lafayette, 17-4, in a seven-inning run rule at Alex Box Stadium to bounce back from a series loss to Texas in Austin, who handed LSU two of their three losses on the year. Their first loss came at the hands of Omaha in their sixth game of the year, 5-4, in front of their home crowd in Baton Rouge.
 
The Tigers are led by head coach Jay Johnson, who is in his fourth year as the skipper for LSU and 13th season as a head coach. Johnson guided the Tigers to their seventh national championship after winning the 2023 College World Series over Wake Forest, when he was also named the National Coach of the Year that season. Since arriving to Baton Rouge, Johnson has seen 27 MLB Draft selections including 16 that were selected in the top 10 rounds, most recently Paul Skenes to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Dylan Crews to the Washington Nationals.
 
LSU is stacked as a prolific offense, as the Tigers rank among the top 10 nationally in batting average (.338), base hits (324), doubles (71), on-base percentage (.456), runs (289) and slugging percentage (.572). Of those statistics, LSU leads the SEC in just three of them (batting average, hits, doubles). Jared Jones leads the team in hits (46), doubles (10), homers (10), RBI (45), slugging percentage (.754), and OPS (1.258). Jones, along with teammate Derek Curiel, are the only players for LSU and are two of five players in the SEC currently batting over .400 this season, yet are two of nine Tigers batting over .300 and have played in at least 20 games.
 
The pitching staff for the Tigers provides its own success, carrying a team ERA of 3.84 with five pitchers that have won at least three games with four of them holding undefeated records. Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson have been the top two arms for LSU, combining for a 9-0 record and 119 total strikeouts between the two pitchers. Anderson is 5-0 on the year through seven starts, carrying a team-best 3.52 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 10 walks through 38.1 innings of work. Eyanson is 4-0 with a 3.89 ERA in seven starts as well, fanning 58 batters while walking 11 through 37 innings. Outside of Anderson and Eyanson, the Tigers have three other pitchers that have struck out at least 30 batters through minimum 20 innings.
 
Previewing the Ragin' Cajuns
UL-Lafayette is coming off a weekend sweep at home over James Madison following their run-rule loss at LSU. With the Sun Belt now three weekends into conference play, the Ragin' Cajuns have won their last two weekend series over James Madison and South Alabama after losing two of three games to Troy to open their league play. UL-Lafayette has struggled with their non-conference opponents, holding an 8-12 record outside of SBC play yet have wins over Dallas Baptist, Southeastern Louisiana, and won the series at home over Nebraska, who was ranked 23rd at the time of play.
 
Matt Deggs serves as UL-Lafayette's head coach, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the Ragin' Cajuns baseball program and 11th overall season as a head coach. Deggs is 174-114 since arriving to Lafayette and 361-232 all-time. Deggs has already secured two SBC titles as well as leading his squad to the program's 17th all-time NCAA Regional in 2022. He led the Ragin' Cajuns to back-to-back 40-win seasons in 2023 and 2024, including a 16-game win streak during the 2024 season and opening conference play with a 14-1 record.
 
Conor Higgs has emerged as UL-Lafayette's top slugger, batting .351 and leading his team in nearly every offensive category. He is the only player on the team with double-digit homers, at least 30 runs scored, slugging over .700 and is one of two players with 30 hits and two triples. Caleb Stelly has also been a steady bat in the Ragin' Cajun lineup, batting .292 with five homers, 17 RBI, six doubles and a pair of triples.
 
UL-Lafayette's pitching staff has fluctuated as the season has gone along, carrying a team ERA of 5.64 into the week. Only four pitchers for the Ragin' Cajuns have collected at least 25 innings along with recording at least 20 strikeouts. JR Tollett and Blake McGehee are tied for the team lead with three wins apiece, yet Tollett has just over 12 more innings pitched than his teammate. Tollett is among the top 10 in the Sun Belt in least walks allowed, sitting in a tie for fourth with just six walks allowed in 35 1/3 innings.
 
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