Final Stats

LA Tech - 5 FAU - 2 | Game 2

Boca Raton, Fla. - On a warm Saturday night in Boca Raton, Florida, Louisiana Tech pulled out their first top-25 victory in seven years and they did it in impressive fashion.

For the first time this season, No. 25 Florida Atlantic (29-7, 6-2 C-USA) lost a game by more than one run as Louisiana Tech (19-10, 1-4 C-USA) defeated the Owls 5-2 in the second game of a double-header.

"I am really proud of the bounce back performance after game one, where a few breaks and tough calls did not go our way," head coach Mark Montgomery said. "The girls showed great resilience in the second game against two quality pitchers, putting up runs against both."

After dropping game one of the series 6-0 earlier in the day, the Lady Techsters showed incredible resiliency bouncing back immediately against the nationally-ranked Owls.

LA Tech got on the board and took their first lead of the day in the third inning.

After Miles singled, Tufi knocked a fielders' choice to third base, but the throw sailed down the right field line and LA Tech ended up with runners on second and third with two outs. That brought freshman Morgan Turkoly to the plate.

Turkoly smashed a two-out single to right field, which brought home Miles and Tufi. The two-RBI single gave Louisiana Tech an early 2-0 lead.

LA Tech got their third run in the fourth inning when the first three Lady Techsters reached base to start the inning. Kassie Harris chopped a grounder to second base, which allowed Berkley Calapp to score from third base and extend the Lady Techsters lead to 3-0.

The Owls put a run on the board in the fourth and fifth innings, but the Lady Techsters locked down the victory with two runs in the top of the seventh.

Tufi walked to open the frame and two batters later Krysta Tutsch lined a two-out double down the right field line to score Tufi.

After shining defensively throughout the night, Katie Smith added to her performance with a second consecutive two-out hit rocketing a ball to left field which allowed pinch-runner Courtney Lowe to score from second without a throw.

"I thought Katie played great defensively tonight," Montgomery said. "She showed what she is truly capable of and what we expect out of her every night. We played flawless defensively in the second game. [Karlee Jensen] played well and the outfield made some nice catches. It was just a solid defensive game all the way around."

Carolina Sanchez, who earned her first save of the season in the victory, came on and pitched a perfect seventh inning to clinch the victory over the Owls.

Bailey Allen (7-4) was credited with the victory, as the Pineville native tossed 4.2 innings, allowing just two earned runs.

"Bailey did a good job of giving us some innings at the beginning of the game," Montgomery said. "Right when she was starting to slow down a little, Carolina came in and shut the door."

Amanda Wilson (8-4) picked up the loss for Florida Atlantic, after giving up three runs, two earned, over four innings pitched.

The five runs scored by the Lady Techsters are the second most given up by the Owls this season, as only Oregon, 7, had scored more on the FAU pitching staff.

In the first game of the day, like many teams across the country, LA Tech had no answer for Kylee Hanson. The Owl hurler tossed seven innings and allowed just a hit, while striking out six.

The Lady Techsters only had two runners reach base in the contest and both came in the third inning. After Natalie Moran led off the inning with a single to center field, Anna Cross drew a two-out walk. Cross attempted to steal second and pinch-runner Jessica Ball tried to take home on the throw down, but was gunned down by FAU second baseman Melissa Martinez.

FAU scored five runs in the third inning, all five coming on three consecutive controversial plays at the plate. The Owls tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.

The two teams will play the decisive game three of the series tomorrow afternoon at 11 a.m. CDT.