March 28, 2012
Live Audio -- FREE
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Louisiana Tech heads west this weekend for its first Western Athletic Conference road trip of the season as the Lady Techsters face San Jose State Friday and Saturday in a three-game series.
Due to a forecast that calls for rain on Saturday afternoon, the two teams will now play a doubleheader Friday starting at 2 p.m. CT and then a single game Saturday at 2 p.m. Game time Saturday could be altered depending on the weather outlook for that day.
Tech (15-17, 2-1 WAC) is coming off its WAC opening series where it won two out of three against Utah State last weekend, including Saturday's doubleheader sweep of the Aggies. San Jose State (17-18, 1-2) opened on the road, defeating Top 15 ranked Hawaii once on the island.
The Lady Techsters boast three of the top hitters in the WAC in junior Melanie Goff (.412, 7 doubles, 10 RBI), junior Janna Frandrup (.388, 22 RBI, 27 walks) and sophomore Erin Kipp (.386, 2 HR, 14 RBI). Kipp, who was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association State Hitter of the Week, is 11-of-20 with seven extra base hits and 11 RBI in her last six games.
Katelynn Hill (.278, 5 HR, 13 RBI), Amanda Krueger (.272, 29 runs, 10 doubles) and Kendra Harmon (.253, 6 RBI) have also been catalysts offensively in Tech winning four of its last five games.
In the circle, Tech will turn to Michelle Jones (9-8, 2.58 ERA), Kipp (5-3, 5.36 ERA), Frandrup (1-3, 0.91 ERA) and Goff (0-3, 6.00 ERA).
San Jose State is led by senior hurler Amanda Pridmore, who boasts a 9-7 record with a 2.62 earned run average. Pridmore, who missed last season due to an injury, is holding opponents to only a .203 batting average. She pitched a complete-game one-hitter and two-hitter against Top 15 ranked Hawaii last weekend.
Offensively, the Spartans are led by speedster Michelle Cox who enters the weekend batting .375 with a WAC-high 16 stolen bases in 19 attempts. Markesha Collins (.284, 2 HR, 13 RBI), Vanessa House (.274, 3 HR, 10 RBI), Jessica Garcia (.247, 17 RBI), Breanna Lopez (.232, 3 HR, 11 RBI) and Alex Stange (.232, 2 HR, 16 RBI) also lead a balance Spartan offense.
San Jose State leads the all-time series against Louisiana Tech 19-16, including winning two out of three in Ruston last season.
Tech fans can listen to the free audio of all three games this weekend by logging onto http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/latech.portal#. Fans can also get twitter updates at @LATechMbutler.
