March 7, 2008

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Louisiana Tech committed a season-high five errors as the Lady Techsters fell 8-6 to Austin Peay in the first game of the 2008 Bulldog Classic hosted by Mississippi State.

"I'm really disappointed in our team," said head coach Sarah Dawson. "I understand that we can't be perfect every time we step on the field, but this was a struggle all game. Every time we went out onto the field, we found a way to make mistakes. It was miserable.

"I understand it was cold, but Austin Peay didn't have problems making plays defensively. We made mistakes on routine plays and ultimately it cost us the game."

Tech (11-11) came out of the gates sluggish, committing three errors in the first two innings which allowed Austin Peay (2-4) to jump out to an early 6-0 lead.

Sophomore Mandi Bertsch (4-3) was victimized early and often by her defense as a fielding error by second baseman Heather Doiron and a throwing error by Bertsch combined with three hits in the opening frame allowed the Lady Governors to build a 3-0 advantage.

The second frame wasn't much kinder as Bertsch surrendered a two-run home run, making the score 5-0 and knocking the Tech starting pitcher from the game.

Freshman Wanda Malone came on in relief and third baseman Summer Young promptly made an error behind her ultimately leading to another run. After a wild pitch and a single made the score 6-0, Malone retired the side to get out of the second.

The score remained 6-0 until the bottom of the fourth inning when Tech began to mount a comeback attempt. With one out, right fielder Krissi Oliver doubled to left field and then stole third base. Jessica Kirby then drew a walk before Young struck out.

With two outs Doiron struck out but reached first as the third strike got away from the catcher. Emma Barnes then singled home Oliver, making the score 6-1.

A Austin Peay error - its only one of the day - followed on a Danielle Sheridan grounder to first allowing Kirby to score and pulling the lady Techsters to within 6-2.

Malone loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning and was promptly relieved by freshman Meghan Krieg, who walked her first batter to make the score 7-2. However, Krieg settled down and retired three straight batters to keep the deficit five runs.

Tech struck for three runs in the top of the sixth inning with the big blow being a two-out two-RBI single up the middle by Amberly Waits. Regan Clark added an RBI single to make the score 7-5.

After Austin Peay added another unearned run in the bottom of the sixth - Young's second error of the day led to the run - Tech tried to make a final comeback in its final at bat.

Kylie Bassett led the bottom of the seventh inning off with a double to right centerfield. After an out, pinch hitter Mandy Granger singled up the middle scoring Bassett but the freshman made a crucial base runner mistake getting thrown out trying to advance to second.

"We made a huge base-running mistake right there," Dawson said. "Some of these players have to learn to listen to the coaches and trust us. Mandy didn't listen and it cost us a big out in a critical time. It was crucial."

Instead of a runner on first and one out with the potential game-tying run at the plate, Tech had two outs with no runners on. Young drew a two-out walk before Doiron grounded out to third to end the game.

"Offensively, we hit the ball really well," Dawson said. "We simply made too many mistakes in the field. We counted 11 mistakes we made in this game defensively, whether it was an error or poor decisions."

Waits and Bassett led Tech's 10-hit attack with two hits each while Barnes, Clark, Oliver, Granger, Young and Doiron each added one hit.

Krieg pitched the final three innings of the game for Tech, allowing no hits, two walks and one unearned run while striking out six.

Tech faces Mississippi State at 4 p.m. in its second game of the day.