RUSTON, La. – On the heels of its third-consecutive 35+ win season, the Louisiana Tech baseball team announced a challenging 2019 schedule, featuring 29 home games and 15 contests against six 2018 NCAA Tournament participants.
LA Tech head coach Lane Burroughs enters his third season at the helm of the baseball team and has led Tech to 75 wins in his first two years in Ruston. Last year, Tech finished with 39 wins, including a program-record 21 conference triumphs and 18 true road victories (most since 1982).
“I say this every year; but scheduling is not an exact science,” Burroughs remarked. You try to do your due diligence as a coach to play a challenging schedule and prepare your team for league play and postseason baseball. I think the committee has sent a message that tough out-of-conference schedules will be rewarded. It’s important to play tough road games early in stressful environments so regional play won’t seem foreign. Our early stretch of non-conference weekends will prepare us for that. We are also fortunate to be able to play midweek games against tough, quality programs because of our location. We look forward to competing against some of the best in the country and once again playing in one of the best baseball leagues in the nation.”
The Bulldogs open the 2019 slate on the road, taking on in-state foe Southeastern Louisiana in a three-game set on February 15-17. Tech will then return home for four straight including the team’s home-opener against UL-Lafayette on February 19, followed by the first home weekend series of the season on February 22-24 against Troy.
Tech will host another three-game weekend series to open the month of March, taking on the Arkansas State Red Wolves on March 1-3. The following weekend, the Bulldogs will travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for a three-game road series against the Arkansas Razorbacks on March 8-10.
Tech will then return home to host Sam Houston State in a pair of midweek games, before opening conference play at home against the defending league champion Southern Miss Golden Eagles on March 15-17.
Tech’s conference schedule includes home series against the aforementioned Golden Eagles along with UAB (March 29-31), UTSA (April 5-7), Marshall (April 18-20) and WKU (May 10-12). The Bulldogs will travel in conference play to Middle Tennessee (March 22-24), Florida Atlantic (April 12-14), Rice (April 26-28), Old Dominion (May 3-5) and FIU (May 16-18).
In its final non-conference game of the season, Tech will travel to Baton Rouge to take on the LSU Tigers on May 7.
The Conference USA Baseball Championship will again be held in Biloxi, Mississippi, on May 22-26.
Breaking it Down
- The Bulldogs will face six teams that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
- 10 of Tech’s 2019 opponents won 30 or more games last season.
- Four of which won 40+
- The Bulldogs have registered a home record of 843-460-1 in J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park since it opened in 1971.
- Tech has won 18 or more home games in each of the previous five seasons.
- Last season, the Bulldogs set a program record with 21 conference victories.
Fall Schedule Info
In addition to its 2019 spring schedule, the Bulldogs also announced their fall scrimmage and practice schedule, which will provide fans with ample opportunities to take a firsthand look at the 2018-19 Bulldogs before the regular season starts in February.
In the offseason, the NCAA introduced a new policy, allowing teams to take part in two scrimmages against other teams in during fall camp. Tech will take advantage of the welcomed change, taking on Grambling (Oct. 13) and Northwestern State (Oct. 26) in two home exhibition contests that will not count against the 56-game spring schedule.
With the first official fall practice slated for this Friday, the Bulldogs will begin their intrasquad scrimmage schedule with the first slated for 5 p.m. The Bulldogs will scrimmage each Friday (5 p.m.), Saturday (11 a.m.) and Monday (5 p.m.) leading up to the annual Fall World Series (dates TBA) in November.
All scrimmages throughout the fall are open to the public. Be sure to follow @LATechBSB on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all updates, news and items of interest pertaining to the Bulldog Baseball Team.
2019 Louisiana Tech Schedule (PDF)
