Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Both Louisiana Tech diamond teams will be hosting important Conference USA series this weekend as baseball welcomes Dallas Baptist while softball hosts Top 25 Liberty.
Softball
Louisiana Tech softball returns home to Dr. Billy Bundrick Field to host Liberty after an eight-game road trip that saw the Bulldogs post a 5-3 mark.
It’s a match-up of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the current league standings. The Flames sit atop the Conference USA standings while the Bulldogs are in second place.
Tonight’s first pitch is set for 6 p.m. while Saturday is slated for 2 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m. Tech will honor its senior class following the final out in Sunday’s finale. All three games can be seen on ESPN+.
This will be the seventh, eighth and ninth all-time meetings between the Bulldogs and Flames with Liberty leading 6-0. The two schools first met in the 2016 season as Liberty made its first ever trip to Ruston to play in the LA Tech Classic.
The two schools met for the first time in eight years last season and for the first time as CUSA members. Liberty swept the Bulldogs in the regular season (2-0, 3-0, 2-0) and ended LA Tech’s run in the CUSA Tournament at the hands of a 5-0 defeat.
The Bulldogs moved to 29-18 (14-7 CUSA) after shutting out Stephen F. Austin 9-0 on Tuesday night. The 9-0 win marked the Bulldogs’ sixth shutout win of the season and their third run-rule win of the year.
Reagan Marchant hit her 14th home run of the season Tuesday and is tied for second all-time in program history with 14 home runs in a single season. Marchant has 43 hits, 42 RBI, 26 runs and is batting .321 this season. Nicole Hammoude leads the team with a .379 batting average and ranks second on the team in RBI (41) and hits (50).
Allie Floyd enters this weekend’s series with a 20-9 record as she became the 18th LA Tech pitcher in program history to record 20 wins in a single season. She leads the league in wins (20), complete games (15), innings pitched (173.0), and strikeouts (164).
Liberty (38-10, 17-3) comes into this weekend’s series as the hottest team in CUSA. The Flames have won all seven of their CUSA series this season.
Liberty is led by Rachel Roupe, who leads the team with 55 RBI, 16 home runs, while her 42 runs and .381 batting average are second best.
Elena Escobar is the top arm in the circle for Liberty as she carries a 17-3 record and a 2.23 ERA. She has nine complete games, and four shutout wins in 109.2 innings of work. The senior right-hander has allowed 41 runs (35 earned) on 89 hits. She has fanned 127 and issued 32 walks.
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Baseball
The Diamond ‘Dogs (25-15, 10-4 CUSA) are gearing up for a clash with the Dallas Baptist Patriots (28-12, 11-4 CUSA) in a weekend series among two of the league’s top three programs this year at the Love Shack.
DBU is tied with WKU atop the CUSA standings while the Bulldogs are one-half game back in third place.
Tonight’s opener is set for 6 p.m. CT followed by Game 2 on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT. The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
All three games can be seen on ESPN+ and heard on 97.7 FM.
The two teams have split the previous 34 match-ups with each winning 17 games. DBU defeated Tech 17-10 in the 2024 CUSA Championship game last May at the Love Shack.
LA Tech is coming off securing its sixth-straight series win and fifth-straight series against a CUSA opponent after taking two of three games from Liberty at home last weekend. The Bulldogs opened the series with a thrilling walk-off comeback victory on Thursday before clinching the rubber game with a closely played 4-3 win.
Trey Hawsey leads the team with a 1.014 OPS while holding a staggering OPS of 1.301 in league contests, which is third-best in CUSA. The West Monroe native is on a nine-game hitting streak, which is the longest current streak on the team. He is batting .390 in CUSA games, leading the Bulldogs and sitting among the top 10 in the conference.
DBU enters the weekend tied for the top spot in the CUSA standings with WKU at an 11-4 record in conference play. The Patriots had a nine-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, April 22 in a 16-4 blowout loss on the road at Oklahoma State.
The Patriots recorded consecutive sweeps at Jacksonville State and at home against Sam Houston following a series loss to the Hilltoppers at home. They have recently picked up midweek ranked wins on the road at No. 16 Oklahoma (9-1) and at No. 15 TCU (6-5) in 10 innings. DBU’s offense exploded for 49 runs in three games against the Bearkats while only allowing four runs in each of their three games.
