Box Score

DENTON, Texas ââ'¬" Louisiana Tech saw a five-run first inning lead evaporate as the Lady Techsters fell 9-7 to North Texas at Lovelace Stadium Sunday in the series finale.

It marks only the fourth Conference USA series in the last 17 that Louisiana Tech has lost and just the second time an opponent swept the Lady Techsters during that span.

"I didn't have us prepared for this series, and I take full responsibility," said Tech head coach Mark Montgomery. "I feel like we weren't as ready as we needed to be and that is 100 percent on me."

Tech (16-17, 4-5 C-USA) used a pair of home runs in the top of the first inning ââ'¬" a solo shot by Kimmie Atienza and a two-run shot by Taria Page ââ'¬" as well as an RBI double by Katie Smith and RBI single by Jensen Howell to grab an early 5-0 advantage. The Lady Techsters chased NT starter Hope Trauntwein after just three batters and reliever Ally Lindsay after three batters.

North Texas answered with a run in the bottom of the frame after back-to-back doubles against LA Tech starter Jensen Howell. However, Howell settled down and retired the next nine North Texas batters she faced.

Tech had a number of opportunities to add to its lead against North Texas reliever Maria Priest but the Lady Techsters were the victim of some line drive outs at Mean Green defenders.

"I thought we hit a lot of balls hard today that were just right at the defense," said Montgomery.

North Texas chased Howell in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Mean Green scored four runs on six hits against three Tech pitchers in the frame. Junior Krystal De La Cruz did record back-to-back outs with the bases loaded to end the frame. The game was tied at 5-5.

North Texas took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on a three-run home run off De La Cruz.

Junior Jazlyn Crowder pulled the Lady Techsters to within 8-6 in the top of the sixth inning on an opposite field home run, her first of the year. Tech added a second run in the frame on a hard hit single up the middle by Taria Page that was ruled an error on the NT shortstop.

After North Texas added a single run in the bottom of the sixth against Tech reliever Preslee Gallaway, Tech mounted one last effort.

Marilyn Rizzato singled and one out later, Brooke Makemson reached on a fielding error. After a ground out by Crowder moved the runners to second and third with two outs, Atienza hit a slow roller to third base that would have scored a run and put the tying run at third base, but she was called out at first base for the final out of the game. Video replay showed Atienza beat the throw.

"We faced a lot of adversity this weekend," said Montgomery. "Some of it was our own doing, but a lot of it was out of our control. I talked to our players after the game about learning to handle the adversity better than we did at times. We will learn from a subpar weekend of softball and move on to get ready for Southern Miss."

Atienza (2-4, HR, RBI, run), Turkoly (1-1, 2 runs, 2 walks), Smith (1-4, run, RBI), Page, (1-4, HR, run, 2 RBI), Galaz (1-3), Rizzato (1-4), Howell (1-3, RBI), and Crowder (1-4, HR, run, RBI) led LA Tech offensively.