Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
The Diamond ‘Dogs (13-8, 3-0 CUSA) look to close out the homestand with the Central Arkansas Bears (11-9, 1-2 ASUN) tonight at JC Love Field at Pat Patterson Park.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT and the game can be seen on ESPN+.
This is the first time the two clubs meet since 2010, when the ‘Dogs and the Bears split a two-game home-and-home series. Tech won the most recent matchup at the Love Shack, 13-5, after falling to the Bears, 1-0, on the road in Conway, Arkansas. That was the lone game played at UCA’s home field, with five of the six all-time matchups being played in Ruston.
Tech looks to extend their three-game winning streak before heading into their first conference test on the road this season, coming off a sweep to open CUSA play at home against Delaware. The ‘Dogs secured their first shutout win to open conference play since 1987 with a 5-0 victory Friday night.
The series was clinched with a 9-3 win on Saturday before a massive 17-4 eight-inning run-rule on Sunday capped off the series. Tech’s 31 runs scored over the weekend were the most runs scored against a conference opponent scoring 39 at New Mexico State in 2024. The last time the ‘Dogs scored at least 31 runs in a CUSA weekend at home was against WKU in 2022.
The Bulldogs have struggled in midweeks so far this season, holding a 1-4 record when not playing on the weekend. The lone midweek win for the ‘Dogs this year was a 5-2 victory over Northwestern State on February 24.
UCA is coming off a series loss, dropping two of three games to Eastern Kentucky to open ASUN play. The Bears won a 16-12 shootout to open the series before losing Game 2 by a score of 16-3 and dropping the rubber match, 6-5.
The Bears have three hitters batting over .340 thus far in Nate Negre, Parker Gwyn and Zeb Allen. Allen leads the club with a .358 average and starts in all 20 games this year, along with 22 runs, seven homers, 5 total bases and eight stolen bags on a perfect eight attempts.
