Louisiana Tech (25-11, 10-5) will host Marshall (21-15, 8-7) in a three-game Conference USA series beginning Thursday night.
Tech enters the series in third place in the conference standings, two games behind Florida Atlantic. Marshall is currently in sixth place, four games behind the Owls. The top eight teams in the league will qualify for the Conference USA tournament that will begin May 22nd in Biloxi, MS.
Series Info:
Game Times: Thursday 6 p.m., Friday 4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.
Where: J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park
TV: CUSA.tv (subscription required)
Radio: KNBB 97.7FM
RPI Watch:
Tech | 31
Marshall | 184
Tech Starting Pitcher Probables:
Thursday: RHP Matt Miller (5-0, 3.35 ERA, 51 IP, 42 hits allowed, 20 BB, and 58 K)
Friday: LHP Logan Robbins (3-2, 6.31 ERA, 41.1 IP, 53 hits allowed, 21 BB, and 36 K)
Saturday: LHP Logan Bailey (4-4, 6.55 ERA, 45.1 IP, 65 hits allowed, 19 BB, and 41 K)
Diamond Dogs Clicking at the Right Time:
After losing to ULM on March 26th to fall to 14-10 overall, many had given up hope on Louisiana Tech reaching an NCAA Regional in 2019. However, Lane Burroughs’ squad had different thoughts. Since that loss to ULM, Tech has won 11 of its last 12 games to improve to 25-11 and 10-5 in Conference USA play. The Bulldogs are up to 31 in the RPI and both Baseball America and D1Baseball have the Bulldogs projected to be in a regional.
Scouting the Thundering Herd:
Jeff Waggoner is in his 13th season as the head coach at Marshall. The Thundering Herd enter the series with Louisiana Tech having won three out of their last four games, including a 4-3 home win over Ohio Tuesday night.
Pitching Probables:
Thursday: LHP Joshua Shapiro (5-1, 1.94 ERA, 51 IP, 36 hits allowed, 25 BB, and 47 K)
Friday: RHP Wade Martin (0-1, 1.80 ERA, 5 IP, 3 hits allowed, 1 BB, and 4 K)
Saturday: TBA
Key Relievers:
RHP Michael Guerrero (1-1, 1.89 ERA, 19 IP, 10 hits allowed, 19 BB, and 27 K)
RHP Sam Boone (1-2, 2.31 ERA, 11.2 IP, 10 hits allowed, 6 BB, and 13 K)
LHP Ryan Falls (4-1, 3.75 ERA, 36 IP, 29 hits allowed, 19 BB, and 26 K)
RHP D’Andre Knight (3-2, 4.71 ERA, 21 IP, 21 hits allowed, 6 BB, and 17 K)
Peralta Pounding the Baseball:
Elvis Peralta redshirted in 2018 after transferring to Marshall from Crowder College. Expectations were extremely low entering 2019, but Peralta has put all of those doubts to rest. The speedy shortstop is hitting .338 with 6 home runs and 29 RBI through 36 games. Although he’s only 5’10 and 170 pounds, Peralta gets the most out of his frame slugging .559. Peralta plays a big role in the middle of a Marshall lineup that is averaging nearly seven runs per game.
Statistical Comparison (Tech | Marshall):
Batting Average: .287 | .296
Slugging Percentage: .436 | .463
On-Base Percentage: .373 | .370
Home Runs: 34 | 33
Runs per Game: 6.6 | 6.6
ERA: 4.47 | 4.60
WHIP: 1.43 | 1.59
Strikeout to Walk Ratio: 2.41 | 1.35
Fielding Percentage: .972 | .962
SB per Game: 1.3 | 1.6
Louisiana Tech swept Marshall last season, outscoring the Thundering Herd 37-11 over the course of the three-game set.
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