Louisiana Tech (32-21, 15-12 CUSA) will travel to Florida International (22-30, 11-16 CUSA) for its final regular season Conference USA series of the season.

Series Info:

Game Times: Thursday 6 p.m., Friday 5 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m.

Where: FIU Baseball Stadium

TV: CUSA.tv (subscription required)

Radio: KNBB 97.7FM

RPI Watch:

Tech | 53

Florida International | 168

Tech Starting Pitcher Probables:

Thursday: RHP Matt Miller (5-1, 3.62 ERA, 74.2 IP, 63 hits allowed, 29 BB, and 91 K)

Friday: LHP David Leal (3-1, 3.57 ERA, 40.1 IP, 36 hits allowed, 4 BB, and 42 K)

Saturday: LHP Logan Bailey (6-5, 6.04 ERA, 67 IP, 91 hits allowed, 20 BB, and 60 K)

Mallard Scorching Hot

Mason Mallard has been the best hitter in the Louisiana Tech lineup throughout the season hitting .390 with 7 home runs and 33 RBI. The senior also has 19 stolen bases to lead the Tech team. In his last five games, Mallard is hitting .650 with 7 doubles and 5 RBI. Mallard was named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week on Monday.

Scouting the Panthers:

Mervyl Melendez is in his third season as the head coach at Florida International. At 11-16 in Conference USA play, the Panthers are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to qualifying for the conference tournament. Look for FIU to give their best shot this weekend.

Pitching Probables:

Thursday: LHP Logan Allen (4-5, 3.04 ERA, 77 IP, 67 hits allowed, 24 BB, and 110 K)

Friday: RHP Nick MacDonald (4-4, 4.00 ERA, 72 IP, 89 hits allowed, 16 BB, and 64 K)

Saturday: TBA

Key Relievers:

RHP Angel Tiburcio (0-1, 2.22 ERA, 28.1 IP, 17 hits allowed, 16 BB, and 28 K)

LHP Will Saxton (0-3, 3.12 ERA, 26 IP, 18 hits allowed, 17 BB, and 27 K)

RHP Jan Figueroa (0-0, 3.43 ERA, 21 IP, 21 hits allowed, 10 BB, and 17 K)

Garcia Enjoying Hot Stretch

Jose Garcia is swinging the bat as good as he has all season in the last three games. The Panthers catcher has raised his batting average 28 points in the last three games after going 8/13 (.615) with 6 RBI. Garcia will look to stay hot at the plate this weekend and lead the Panthers into the Conference USA tournament next week in Biloxi, MS.

Statistical Comparison (Tech | Florida International):

Batting Average: .284 | .258

Slugging Percentage: .437 | .390

On-Base Percentage: .375 | .354

Home Runs: 52 | 47

Runs per Game: 6.3 | 5.4

ERA: 4.47 | 4.64

WHIP: 1.40 | 1.54

Strikeout to Walk Ratio: 2.55 | 2.20

Fielding Percentage: .975 | .962

SB per Game: 1.1 | 1.3

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