April 11, 2009

Box Score

RUSTON -- Kylie Bassett hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to lift Louisiana Tech to a 1-0 win over 25th ranked Fresno State in the second game of a Western Athletic Conference softball doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

Fresno State won the first game of the day 3-0.

While Bassett provided the offensive spark, sophomore hurler Wanda Malone kept the Bulldogs (26-17, 8-4 WAC) at bay all afternoon throwing a complete-game two-hitter to earn her first victory of the season.

"Wanda showed yesterday when she came in in relief that she was able to keep their hitters off balance," said Tech head coach Sarah Dawson, who saw her team improve to 21-18, 5-6 in WAC play. "We have used her mainly in relief this year. The question was how long she could be effective. She did a good job of throwing a good mix of pitches in the zone with good movement. She also worked outside of the zone and made their hitters hit her pitch."

Malone allowed only four base runners in 10.0 innings, including two hits, one walk and one batter that reached on an error.

Fresno State's Haley Gilleland registered a fourth-inning single off of Malone and eventually reached third before the sophomore hurler struck Michelle Moses out swinging to end the threat.

Malone then retired 15 straight Bulldog batters until Haley Perkins reached on an error by Heather Doiron with one out in the ninth inning. Gilliland then followed with a bunt single as Perkins moved to third on a throwing error by Bassett.

However, Malone got Caitlin Stiglich to fly out to shallow left field and Alexis Lugan to fly out to centerfield to end the inning.

After a one-two-three top of the 10th inning for Fresno State, sophomore Bulldog hurler Morgan Melloh retired Danielle Sheridan and Amberly Waits to start the 10th before Bassett drilled a 2-0 pitch over the right centerfield fence for the game-winning run.

"Kylie had a rough day at the plate," Dawson said. "She struck out four times on the day before that at bat. She could have packed it in early in the day, but she really worked hard. We know she has that kind of power. I was proud of her for mentally staying in the game. It gave her the opportunity to win it in the 10th."

Bassett, Waits and Sheridan each registered two hits in the game while Krissi Oliver, Emma Barnes and Jessica Kirby each recorded one hit.

Melloh (20-13) took the loss, allowing four hits while striking out six in 5.1 innings of relief.

"It's a huge win for us," Dawson said. "Fresno State is one of the top teams in our conference and in the region. It was really important that we win at least one. It's a quality win. It will be important for our confidence if we see them in the WAC Tournament."

In the first game of the day, Melloh shut LA Tech out for the second time in as many days in the 3-0 victory.

Lady Techster sophomore hurler Meghan Krieg (11-4) pitched well for LA Tech but was the victim of some two-out hitting by the Bulldogs.

After Tech loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning on singles by Sheridan and Waits and a walk to Kirby, Melloh got Valerie Quiroga to ground out to the second baseman to end the threat.

With the game scoreless heading into the top of the fifth inning, Krieg struck out the first two batters before walking the eighth and ninth place hitters for the Bulldogs. Perkins then capitalized on the wildness looping a two-out single to centerfield to plate the first run of the day and give Fresno State a 1-0 advantage.

Tech came within a foot of tying the game up in the bottom of the sixth inning as pinch hitter Allie Geisler singled to left field with two outs but Lujan threw out pinch runner Sarah Offut at the plate keeping the Bulldogs one-run lead in tact.

Fresno State struck for two more runs in the top of the seventh inning. After Krieg had retired the first two Bulldog batters, Brooke Phipps hit her first career home run over the left field wall making the score 2-0.

Perkins and Gilleland then walked and Stiglich drove home Perkins with a single back up the middle, increasing the Fresno State lead to 3-0.

Melloh would allow only a leadoff single by Barnes in the bottom of the seventh before retiring the next three batters to end the game.