March 16, 2011

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES, La. - Michelle Jones recorded a two-out, two-run single and Meghan Krieg struck out 12 to lead Louisiana Tech to a 4-2 extra inning win over Northwestern State Wednesday night.

With two outs and runners on second and third in the top of the eighth inning, Jones singled to left field, driving home Heather Doiron and Cassie Krieg to give the Lady Techsters a 4-2 advantage. Doiron had started the inning on second using the international tiebreaker rule while Krieg had reached on an error by the NSU catcher after striking out.

Meghan Krieg (4-10) loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth inning but induced a fly ball out by Samantha Roberts to end the game.

"Offensively, we started off slow today," said Tech head coach Sarah Dawson. "We had a lot of pop ups. It was good to see us come back and learn from it, and we did a better job of hitting the ball hard on the ground. In the innings we scored, that's how we gave ourselves a chance.

"Defensively, we played really, really well behind Meghan. In crunch time, I thought defensively we really rose to the challenge. For Michelle to get a big hit with two outs in a critical time was also huge. We found a way to win."

The Lady Techsters (8-19) were able to win it in extra innings thanks to a fine defensive game-saving play by LA Tech third baseman Molly Goza in the bottom of the seventh.

With the game tied at 2-2 and a Demons runner on third base with two outs, NSU tried a squeeze bunt to score the game-winning run but Goza made a great play to field the bunt and fire it home while Tech catcher Allie Geisler blocked the plate and recorded the out.

Tech took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning when Kendra Harmon scored on a two-out error by the NSU leftfielder on a dropped fly ball. Harmon had singled with two outs and advanced to second on a single by Charday Wilson. Janna Frandrup followed with the fly ball that was dropped, allowing Harmon to score and Tech to take the lead.

After Northwestern State (15-10) tied the game on a two-out double in the bottom of the fourth inning, Tech retook the lead in the top of the fifth. Jones drew a one-out walk and scored on a RBI double by Harmon to right centerfield.

The Demons answered again in the bottom of the sixth inning, again on a two-out RBI double off of Meghan Krieg. Krieg allowed two runs on seven hits and only two walks while striking out 12.

"Meghan was Meghan again tonight," Dawson said. "She did a good job of hitting spots and making them swing and miss. She came up with a couple of big strikeouts when we needed them. She was out there competing. It was good to see."

Tech will return to action Saturday when the Lady Techsters travel to Hammond to face Southeastern Louisiana in a doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m.