April 18, 2009

Box Score

LOGAN -- Claire Gibson and Amberly Waits each homered to power Louisiana Tech past Utah State 7-2 Saturday afternoon in Western Athletic Conference softball action at Johnson Field.

With the win, LA Tech (25-19, 7-7 WAC) won the series, taking two out of three games from the Aggies (9-30, 2-10 WAC).

Gibson's three-run blast -- the second of her career and the second in as many days -- capped a four-run third inning and gave LA Tech a comfortable 5-0 lead. Waits two-run shot in the sixth -- her 13th of the season -- added insurance runs as the Lady Techsters won for the fifth time in their last six games.

Tech took an early 1-0 lead on a Amanda Parsonage double to left field that scored Krissi Oliver from first with two outs in the top of the second inning.

The Lady Techsters then plated four runs on only two hits in the top of the third inning. After walks to Danielle Sheridan and Waits put runners on first and second, Jessica Kirby lined a single to left field scoring Sheridan and upping Tech's advantage to 2-0.

Gibson then took a 3-2 pitch and laced it deep over the centerfield fence off Utah State starter Lindsey Benson, giving the Lady Techsters a 5-0 lead.

Utah State plated its first run of the game as Emily Reilly tripled to right field to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning and then scored on an RBI single by Rachel Evans to cut the LA Tech lead to 5-1.

However, any hope of an Aggie rally was doused when Waits hit a two-run home run with two outs in the sixth inning, scoring Heather Doiron who had led the frame off with a single.

The two RBIs by Waits gave her 47 for the season, breaking the LA Tech single season RBI record previously held by Erica St. Romain (46 in 1998). It was also the 35th home run of the season for Tech, snapping the team record for a single season (34 in 2008).

The Aggies did put runners on first and second with no outs in the sixth against Tech starter Meghan Krieg, who gave way to reliever Wanda Malone. After giving up an RBI single up the middle to Jeannie Hernandez, Malone settled down and retired the Aggies to preserve the 7-2 lead.

Krieg (14-4) picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five.

Sheridan, Kirby and Gibson each registered two hits in the win while Waits, Emma Barnes, Parsonage and Doiron each recorded one hit.

Tech returns to action Wednesday at home when its hosts Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m.