RUSTON, La. – With the 2015 baseball season less than three months away, Louisiana Tech head coach Greg Goff has announced the upcoming schedule, which is highlighted by 29 home games, including eight weekend series at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park in Ruston.
LA Tech is set to play a total of 55 games in 2015, including 14 three-game series, four of which will be non-conference matchups, and 13 midweek contests over the course of the campaign. The Bulldogs will also face off against four opponents that made the NCAA Tournament last season as Southeastern Louisiana, Arkansas, Rice and Old Dominion reached the postseason in 2014.
“We have a challenging schedule ahead of us this season, but hopefully the non-conference schedule we are playing will prepare us for Conference USA play and give us an opportunity to play in the postseason,” Goff said about the upcoming slate.
The Bulldogs will begin the season with a five-game road trip, as the 2015 season and the Greg Goff era will officially get underway on Friday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. with LA Tech traveling to Hammond to take on Southeastern Louisiana in what will be a return trip for the Diamond ‘Dogs after the Lions opened the 2014 campaign in Ruston a season ago.
Tech will then travel 170 miles west to Lake Charles in two midweek games against in-state foe McNeese State on Feb. 17-18 before returning to Ruston to open the 2015 home schedule with a seven-game home stand, beginning with a three-game non-conference series against UAPB on Feb. 20 at J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park, now in its 45th year of service.
For the first time since 2008, the Bulldogs will renew an I-20 showdown with UL-Monroe with two midweek contests scheduled against the Warhawks in 2015, one home and one away. ULM will make the short trip to Ruston early in the season with a Feb. 25 game scheduled against the Bulldogs, before LA Tech will return the favor on April 1 with a 6 p.m. first pitch at Warhawk Field in Monroe. Tech currently leads the all-time series over ULM, 77-68, as the 140 times the two teams have played is the second-most meetings of any other opponent LA Tech has played in the team’s history.
LA Tech will then return home to face off against Oral Roberts in non-conference action for the third time in four years as the Golden Eagles will travel to Ruston for a three-game set beginning on Feb. 27 in Ruston.
On March 4, the Bulldogs will make the trip to Fayetteville, Arkansas to battle one of the top teams in the Southeastern Conference in the Arkansas Razorbacks in a midweek contest at Baum Stadium. The last time LA Tech took on Arkansas, the No. 17-ranked Razorbacks edged the Bulldogs, 6-5, in a 10 inning affair in Little Rock.
Tech is set to host Southland Conference member Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the Bulldogs’ final non-conference series of the season on March 6-8, as the Islanders come to town fresh off a 30-plus win season in 2014.
The Bulldogs have played in-state foe Northwestern State more times than any other opponent in program history with an 88-61 all-time record in the series, which will continue in 2015 as LA Tech will play two midweek contests against the Demons, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch on March 10 at Brown-Stroud Field in Natchitoches. NSU will make the return trip to Ruston late in the season on Tuesday, May 12.
Now in its second year as a member of Conference USA, LA Tech will play 10 C-USA series in 2015, with the Bulldogs hosting five league opponents during the season. LA Tech will open conference play with no small task as the Bulldogs will travel to face the Rice Owls on March 13 in the league opener at Reckling Park in Houston. Louisiana Tech will follow up by opening its home conference schedule on March 20 when the Golden Eagles from Southern Miss make the trek to Ruston to battle with the Bulldogs.
After hosting the 49ers in a three-game set last season, LA Tech will make the trip to North Carolina in 2015 to take on Charlotte in league play beginning on March 27 at Robert and Mariam Hayes Baseball Stadium.
The Bulldogs return home on April 3 to play hosts to first-year C-USA member Western Kentucky in a three-game set before once again hitting the road to face Middle Tennessee the first time as a member of the league on April 10 in Murfreesburo.
LA Tech will be looking to avenge a series sweep UAB delivered last season when the Blazers make the trip to Ruston for the second consecutive season for a three-game C-USA series on April 17-19. The Bulldogs will split the final four league series with LA Tech set to travel to FIU (April 24-26) and Old Dominion (May 8-10), before hosting UTSA (May 1-3) and Marshall (May 15-17) to close out the regular season.
In addition to three-game series, LA Tech will also play 13 midweek games against regional opponents, including five that will be played on the Bulldogs’ home turf. Tech is set to play a home and away contest against Grambling State, UALR and Stephen F. Austin, as well as the previous midweek matchups against McNeese State, ULM, Arkansas and Northwestern State.
The 2015 Conference USA Baseball Tournament site has yet to be released, but the eight-team championship will run from May 20-24.
