April 2, 2009
RUSTON -- Louisiana Tech will begin an important three-game series against defending Western Athletic Conference regular season champion Nevada Friday with a 5 p.m. CST single game followed by a doubleheader Saturday at 3 p.m.
The series will also pit the two teams that played in the WAC Tournament title game last year in Honolulu with the Lady Techsters capturing the championship with back-to-back 4-3 and 2-1 victories.
The Lady Techsters (18-14, 3-2 WAC) currently sit in a tie for third place in the league standings, trailing only Fresno State and Nevada (24-10, 4-1). The Wolf Pack have won 24 straight home games dating back to the 2007 season.
Nevada, which is 12-0 at home this season, returns to action after winning two of three games in Hawaii last weekend, while the Lady Techsters swept a weather-shortened two-game road stand at Boise State.
The Wolf Pack are one of the nation's top hitting teams, sporting a .325 batting average with 35 home runs. Six of Nevada's regulars are batting well over .300 led by Britton Murdock (.398, 7 HR, 28 RBI), Brittany Puzey (.385, 9 HR, 35 RBI), Noelle Micka (.369, 1 HR, 11 RBI), Sam Bias (.359, 5 HR, 22 RBI), Kym Silagyi (.343, 14 RBI) and Sarah Hunt (.329, 3 HR, 20 RBI).
In the circle, Nevada is led by the one-two punch of Katie Holverson (14-6, 2.19 ERA, 130 Ks) and Mallary Darby (10-4, 3.17 ERA, 123 Ks).
Although LA Tech continues to be led offensively by Amberly Waits (.427, 8 HR, 35 RBI), head coach Sarah Dawson is starting to get more production from the rest of her lineup.
Junior catcher Jessica Kirby (.250, 5 HR, 12 RBI) is the WAC Hitter of the Week following her performances in the Lady Techsters four games last week, while Danielle Sheridan (.278, 1 HR, 9 RBI), Emma Barnes (.270, 9 RBI, 6 SB) and Kylie Bassett (.235, 2 HR, 15 RBI) are all starting to produce.
Senior Krissi Oliver (7-9, 2.96 ERA, 74 Ks) and sophomore Meghan Krieg (10-4, 1.62 ERA, 115 Ks) will see the bulk of the work in the circle for the Lady Techsters as the duo has combined to log 181.1 innings this season.
Tech fans can follow all of the action this weekend via gametracker by logging onto www.nevadawolfpack.com.
