Boxscore I Boxscore II

RUSTON ? Louisiana Tech used strong pitching performances to sweep a softball doubleheader from Stephen F. Austin Tuesday afternoon 3-0 and 4-3 at the Lady Techster Softball Complex.

With the wins, Tech improved to 5-0 on the young season while the Ladyjacks fell to 3-4.

Sophomore Krissi Oliver (3-0) picked up her third win of the year, allowing only one hit and two walks in the complete-game shutout victory in the first contest of the day. Oliver took a perfect game into the sixth inning before giving up a walk and a base hit, but managed to retire the final batter of the frame with runners on second and third, ending SFA?s only real threat of the afternoon.

?Krissi had a perfect game into the sixth inning,? said head coach Sarah Dawson. ?That was an important aspect of this game that we needed to see. We challenged Krissi coming into this year to carry the load. She has responded and done what needs to be done.

?Offensively, we found ways to score runs. We didn?t have a lot of hits but we took advantage of runners in scoring position. I was pretty pleased overall.?

Tech scored a lone run in the bottom of the first inning to grab the early lead as Rochelle Sandberg doubled home Danielle Sheridan from first base, giving the Lady Techsters a 1-0 advantage.

The Techster added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning as Amberly Waits tripled home Jessica Elson giving Tech a 2-0 lead. Waits then scored on a double steal with two outs, adding an insurance run in the frame.

Elson led Tech with two hits while Waits and Sandberg registered one base hit each.

Ashley Wilburn (2-3) took the loss for SFA, allowing three earned runs on four hits and five walks.

Tech jumped out to an early lead in the second game of the afternoon and coasted to a 4-0 lead before having to hold off SFA in the final frame. The Lady Techsters scored single runs in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings while freshman hurler Mandi Bertsch blanked SFA through six innings before finding some trouble in the top of the seventh.

?Mandi still struggled a little with her control,? Dawson said. ?She only gave up a couple of hits going into the seventh. She had some soreness in her arm, and we should have pulled her after six. Krissi did a good job of coming into the game in a pressure situation and getting the save.?

SFA scored all three runs on five hits in the top of the seventh and had the tying run on third base when Oliver struck out Heather Hebert to end the game, earning her first save of the season.

Offensively, senior Christine Echols led Tech?s nine-hit attack with a 3-for-3 performance and two RBI, including a solo home run and triple. Emma Barnes added two hits while Sheridan and Regan Clark each drove in runs.

?I thought Christine swung the bat well,? Dawson said. ?She had some good at bats. Overall, our pitch selection was good. We weren?t fooled much at the plate. We hit ball hard and made their defense make plays. It was a cold windy day and conditions weren?t conducive to playing softball, but we stayed focused and I was proud of our maturity.?

Tech returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Northwestern State in a single game at 3 p.m.