Louisiana Tech will conclude its 2026 season in the Conference USA Baseball Championship on Friday morning when the Bulldogs face Liberty at Mickey Dunn Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia.
First pitch is scheduled for 8 a.m. CT as the Diamond ’Dogs (33-24) look to bounce back after a heartbreaking 14-13 loss to Sam Houston in Wednesday’s tournament opener.
Regardless of the outcome of today’s game, the Bulldogs will not advance to the semifinals of the nine-team tournament after Missouri State defeated Kennesaw State Thursday night.
The loss dropped Tech to 18-18 all-time in CUSA Championship games since joining the league in 2014.
Liberty (39-18) opened tournament play Thursday with a 10-4 victory over Sam Houston. The Flames used four-run innings in both the sixth and ninth frames, fueled by three-run home runs in each inning, to secure the win.
Liberty — based on being the highest seed in the three-team pod — has already clinched a spot in the semifinals, regardless of the outcome of today’s game.
Louisiana Tech also saw pitcher Declan Dahl reach a milestone during Wednesday’s opener. Dahl became the ninth pitcher in program history to record 100 strikeouts in a season and the first Bulldog to reach the mark in fewer than 90 innings pitched. His 102 strikeouts rank eighth on the program’s single-season list.
Wednesday’s opener marked the highest-scoring postseason game involving Louisiana Tech since the Bulldogs and Dallas Baptist combined for 27 runs in the 2024 CUSA Championship game in Ruston. The 13 runs scored by Tech were its most in a postseason game since a 13-8 win over Charlotte on May 24, 2023, in Houston.
The Bulldogs won their regular-season series against Liberty earlier this month in Lynchburg, taking the first two games before falling 3-2 in the finale. Louisiana Tech did not trail during the first 19 innings of that series.
