Louisiana Tech closes out the 2026 regular season this weekend as the Diamond ’Dogs host Sam Houston Bearkats baseball for a three-game Conference USA series at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
The series begins today at 6 p.m., followed by a 6 p.m. first pitch Friday and a 1 p.m. finale Saturday. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ and broadcast locally on 97.7 FM and the LA Tech Athletics and Varsity Network apps.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs baseball enters the weekend 31-22 overall and 17-10 in Conference USA play after taking two of three games last weekend at Liberty. The Bulldogs won the opening two contests in Lynchburg before falling in the series finale. Tech had previously been unbeaten at Liberty’s home field, carrying a 6-0 mark there into Sunday’s matchup.
The Bulldogs enter the final regular-season series with postseason positioning still on the line. Louisiana Tech has already secured a berth in the Conference USA Baseball Championship and can finish no higher than the No. 2 seed and no lower than No. 5.
Sam Houston also has clinched a conference tournament berth. The Bearkats enter the weekend 23-30 overall and 12-15 in league play and could finish anywhere from the No. 6 through No. 9 seed in the conference standings.
The Bearkats arrive in Ruston after sweeping Delaware in a conference series before dropping a 4-3 midweek contest to Houston Christian on Tuesday. Sam Houston is 10-15 on the road this season, including a 5-7 mark against Conference USA opponents away from home.
Louisiana Tech leads the all-time series 11-7 and won two of three games against Sam Houston last season in Huntsville, Texas. The Bulldogs swept the Bearkats in 2024 in the programs’ first meetings as Conference USA opponents.
Individually, Louisiana Tech’s Colton Coates enters the weekend with 43 walks this season, tied for the seventh-most in a single season in program history alongside Tom Krupa (1982) and Taylor Young (2018). Coates also has 86 career walks, eight shy of cracking the program’s all-time top 10.
Trey Hawsey enters the series with 13 home runs this season and 21 for his collegiate career. Hawsey needs six more homers to tie for the ninth-most in a single season in program history and 15 more to move into the Bulldogs’ career top 10.
Since coach Lane Burroughs arrived prior to the 2017 season, Louisiana Tech has lost only two final regular-season home series.
