Louisiana Tech (12-8, 0-3) will travel Murfreesboro, TN to take on Middle Tennessee (7-13, 2-1) in a three-game series beginning Friday night.

Series Info:

Game Times: Friday 6 p.m., Saturday 4 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m.

Where: Reese Smith Jr. Field

TV: CUSA.tv (subscription required)

Radio: KNBB 97.7FM

Tech’s Starting Pitchers:

Friday: Matt Miller (1-0, 5.73 ERA, 22 IP, 23 hits allowed, 13 BB, and 27 K)

Saturday: Logan Robbins (2-1, 8.85 ERA, 20.1 IP, 29 hits allowed, 10 BB, and 20 K)

Sunday: Logan Bailey (1-3, 8.75 ERA, 23.2 IP, 39 hits allowed, 12 BB, and 26 K)

Starting Pitching Woes:

None of Louisiana Tech’s starting pitchers got more than nine outs last weekend as the Bulldogs were swept by Southern Miss. The trio of Matt Miller, Logan Robbins, and Logan Bailey combined to throw 7.2 innings against the Golden Eagles and allowed 15 hits and 12 earned runs. All three saw time on the mound Tuesday night in Tech’s decisive 21-1 win over Mississippi Valley State combining for three shutout innings. With Middle Tennessee’s offense struggling, scoring only 3.8 runs per game, is this the weekend Tech’s starting pitchers get on track?

Scouting the Blue Raiders:

Middle Tennessee is led by first-year head coach, Jim Toman. Toman spent the 2018 season as an assistant at the College of Charleston and before that was the head coach at Liberty from 2008-2016. The Blue Raiders enter the series with the Bulldogs after winning two of three games at UTSA to open Conference USA play last weekend.

Pitching Probables:

Friday: RHP Carson Lester (0-1, 3.32 ERA, 27.2 IP, 26 hits allowed, 14 BB, and 18 K)

Saturday: LHP Peyton Wigginton (1-1, 4.40 ERA, 30.2 IP, 35 hits allowed, 7 BB, and 34 K)

Sunday: LHP David Zoz (1-0, 1.72 ERA, 15.2 IP, 16 hits allowed, 6 BB, and 11 K)

Key Relievers:

RHP Sheldon Paulk (1-1, 2.30 ERA, 15.2 IP, 13 hits allowed, 1 BB, and 20 K)

RHP Tyler Holcombe (1-4, 3.32 ERA, 19 IP, 18 hits allowed, 5 BB, and 16 K)

Christian Struggling

Myles Christian is one of the better MLB Draft prospects in Conference USA. However, the Blue Raiders shortstop has really struggled at the plate through 20 games. The right-handed hitting Christian is hitting only .136 with 33 strikeouts in 66 at-bats. Let’s hope Christian waits at least one more weekend before figuring things out offensively.

Statistical Comparison (Tech l Middle Tennessee):

Batting Average: .286 l .241

Slugging Percentage: .450 l .321

On-Base Percentage: .379 l .315

Home Runs: 22 l 7

Runs per Game: 7.5 l 3.8

ERA: 5.44 l 3.35

WHIP: 1.55 l 1.31

Strikeout to Walk Ratio: 2.24 l 2.68

Fielding Percentage: .970 l .966

SB per Game: 1.3 l 0.9

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