March 13, 2015 RUSTON - After playing only two games in the last 12 days due to Mother Nature, Louisiana Tech opens Conference USA play at home Saturday hosting Florida Atlantic in a three-game series at the Lady Techster Softball Complex.
Tech (15-5, 0-0 C-USA) has seen nine games postponed or cancelled in the last three weeks due to winter or wet conditions although Mark Montgomery's team enters this weekend with a nine-game winning streak, the longest since the 1994 LA Tech team won 21 straight.
Saturday's doubleheader is slated to start at 2 p.m. while Sunday's single game is set to start at 12 p.m. Fans are encouraged to monitor Twitter (@LATechSB) or Facebook (Facebook.com/LouisianaTechSoftball) for any changes to this weekend's times due to conditions.
Tech is coming of a doubleheader sweep of Lyon College on Wednesday. The Lady Techsters haven't lost since a 7-5 setback against Top 10 ranked LSU on Feb. 17 in Baton Rouge. Although the Lady Techsters enter the weekend with some impressive offensive numbers, they will be tested against one of Conference USA's best pitching staffs in Florida Atlantic (19-6-1, 0-0 C-USA).
The Lady Techsters boast a .321 team batting average along with 25 home runs and 58 extra base hits led by Krysta Tutsch (.413, 8 HR, 25 RBI), Bianca Duran (.410, 6 HR, 25 RBI), Tori Charters (.409, 12 runs, 4-4 SB), Karlee Jensen (.375, 10 RBI), Anna Cross (.317, 11 RBI, 7-9 SB) and Pauline Tufi (.298, 4 HR, 12 RBI).
In the circle, Tech will turn to an arsenal of four arms, including Duran (9-5, 3.10 ERA), Tufi (3-0, 4 saves, 2.23 ERA), Carolina Sanchez (2-0, 2.16 ERA) and Bailey Allen (1-0, 0.00 ERA).
The strength of the Florida Atlantic team is their pitching staff as the Owls boast a league-best 2.04 earned run average led by Amanda Wilson (5-1, 1.41 ERA), Kyle Hanson (6-1, 2.20 ERA), Tatum Buckley (3-1, 1.44 ERA) and Samantha Messer (5-3, 2.78 ERA).
Offensively, the Owls are one of the league's top base-stealing teams, successfully stealing 56-of-66 bases this year. Delaney Rickey (.385, 12 runs), Christina Martinez (.372, 21 runs, 12-13 SB), Melissa Martinez (.365, 4 HR, 31 RBI), Emily Lochten (.360, 28 runs, 17 RBI, 18-19 SB) pave the way for Florida Atlantic.
Florida Atlantic owns wins this year over Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Penn State, Tulsa, Michigan State (twice) and Maryland.
Fans can follow all of the action this weekend through Gametracker at LATechSports.com as well as video streaming with a subscription to LA Tech All-Access.
