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VIDEO: Season Preview

VIDEO: Tournament Preview

RUSTON - Mark Montgomery and the Louisiana Tech softball team will open its 2015 season Thursday on the first day of the six-team, four-day, 15-game Lady Techster Invitational hosted at the Lady Techster Softball Complex.

LA Tech welcomes ULM, Abilene Christian, Missouri State, SIU-Edwardsville, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff to Ruston for the round robin event that will see all six teams play five games each starting Thursday and running through Sunday.

The tournament begins Thursday when LA Tech hosts ULM at 3 p.m. Tickets for the Lady Techster Invitational are $10 per day for adults ($5 for youth age 3-17) and $20 for a three-day, all-tournament pass ($10 for youth). Tickets can only be purchased at the facility on days of competition with CASH ONLY. Credit cards, debit cards nor checks will be accepted.

Gametracker will be available on LATechSports.com for each game of the tournament. Video for only the games involving LA Tech will be available by purchasing a subscription to LA Tech All-Access (go to LATechSports.com).

"This is a great way for us to open the season," Montgomery said. "Our young ladies have been working extremely hard since the fall and into this winter. The weather forecast is promising for the weekend, and I think we will have some great games. We really hope our fans will come out and support us this weekend."

The Lady Techsters roster includes a combination of experience with 10 returning letter winners and new blood with eight first year players, including seven freshmen and one junior college signee. Tech is coming off a 2014 season - Montgomery's second in Ruston - that saw the program post a 19-33 mark in its first year competing as a member of Conference USA.

One of Louisiana Tech's issues last season was the fact that the roster lacked depth in the circle. However, Montgomery and Co. should not have the same obstacle this year as the LA Tech roster boasts two experienced hurlers in senior Bianca Duran and sophomore Pauline Tufi as well as two newcomers in freshmen Bailey Allen and Carolina Sanchez.

"Depth is what will help us the most," Montgomery said. "Last year we ended with really just two pitching options. This year we have four. Bianca will be the main starter and as a senior provide real stability. She worked so hard to get to where she is. I feel as though she will lead us to some big wins this year. Pauline will be a closer for us and probably be in the last couple of innings of most every game. She gave up no earned runs this fall and was dominant. In addition, we have two freshmen that are packed with potential. Both Bailey Allen and Carolina Sanchez showed signs of greatness so we're excited about their potential growth throughout the season."

Defensively, Montgomery feels this might be the best group he has coached during his time on the college level.

"I think we saw a couple of things that excite us as a staff," Montgomery said. "First was the defense. We were so much stronger in so many areas. We turned would-be hits into outs, and outs that we turned into double plays. We showed so much improvement and so much more depth. Another thing that excited us is so many players from last year came back in better shape and motivated to do much better this year. We are really starting to see out team culture take shape and that is so exciting."

For all the latest on the Lady Techster Softball team and all of Louisiana Tech's athletic programs, fans can log onto LATechSports.com. Fans can also stay updated with the softball program through Twitter at @LATechSB and by LIKING the Facebook page at Facebook.com/LouisianaTechSoftball.