May 9, 2008

Box Score

HONOLULU - Summer Young's two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Kylie Bassett from second base and sent Louisiana Tech to a 4-3 win over 17th ranked Nevada and into Saturday's championship game of the 2008 Western Athletic Conference Tournament.

Tech will face either Fresno State, Hawaii or Nevada Saturday at 7 p.m. CST in the championship game of the tournament. The Lady Techsters will be vying for a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The win was the third by Tech in three days over a Top 25 team as the Lady Techsters (34-27) had already knocked off No. 22 Hawaii (2-1) and No. 10 Fresno State (3-2).

"It was clearly a team effort today," said Tech head coach Sarah Dawson. "We had two pitchers who hadn't even seen action in the tournament come out and pitch their hearts out against a great Nevada team. I thought our approach was good; we had positive energy and came in believing we could win"

Bassett led bottom of the seventh off with a single to center and advanced to second on a ground out by Krissi Oliver. After Jessica Kirby lined out to third for the second out of the frame, Young worked the count full and then lined an outside pitch to opposite field to give the Lady Techsters the win.

"I've had some good battles against (Katie Holverson) in previous at bats," said Young who was batting only .150 for the year. "I just wanted to keep fighting. Every at bat, I try to forget about the past and think about the new and never give up. Before the last pitch (in this at bat), I just told myself to be aggressive and do it for my Dad."

Nevada (41-15) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning off Tech starter Mandi Bertsch as an error by the Lady Techsters proved costly.

Wolf Pack starter Katie Holverson cruised through the first two innings before freshman Heather Doiron recorded an infield single in the bottom of the third. After Emma Barnes struck out, Danielle Sheridan drew a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs.

Sophomore Amberly Waits followed with a two-run triple to left center, giving the Techsters a 2-1 lead. Regan Clark then followed with a line drive single to left field scoring Waits as Tech built a 3-1 advantage.

Freshman Meghan Krieg came on in relief of Bertsch in the third and looked sharp until the fifth inning when three walks and two hits cost her two runs as Nevada tied the score at 3-3. However, Krieg got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam without allowing any more runs which proved to be crucial.

In the top of the seventh, Nevada's Noelle Micka singled to shallow left center but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double. The Wolf Pack wouldn't threaten again in the frame setting up Young's heroics.

Krieg (7-3) picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on three hits and three walks in 5.0 innings of action while striking out eight.

Clark led Tech with two hits and an RBI while Waits had one hit and two RBI.

Holverson (19-6) was tagged with the loss, allowing four earned run on six hits and one walk. She also had eight strikeouts.