METAIRIE, La. – Louisiana Tech run-ruled Alabama A&M 8-0 Saturday morning at LaSalle Park, giving head coach Maria Winn her first win as in a LA Tech uniform and her 700^th win as a collegiate head coach.

Tech fell 4-3 in 10 innings to Montana in the second game of the afternoon despite some solid pitching and a late inning two-run bomb by Marilyn Rizzato.

Tech returns to action Saturday with a 9:30 a.m. contest against Houston Baptist and a 12 p.m. contest against Texas Tech.

Game 1: LA Tech 8, Alabama A&M 0 (5 innings)

Junior Bre Hernandez pitched five strong innings and Brooke Diaz and Marilyn Rizzato registered two hits each as Louisiana Tech opened the 2020 season with an 8-0 run-rule victory over Alabama A&M at LaSalle Park.

Hernandez (1-0), a transfer from Temple College, allowed just one hit and three walks while striking out five in 5.0 innings of action. She needed just 67 pitches to retire the 15 batters she faced in her first collegiate win in a Lady Techster uniform.

Tech plated two runs in the first, one in the third and five more in the fifth, capitalizing on seven hits, six walks, three errors and three hit batters in the victory.

Tech took the early 2-0 lead in the first as Zoe Hicks scored on a throwing error and then Jordyn Manning scored on a bases loaded walk to Bailey Wright. Diaz made it 3-0 in the bottom of the third inning, scoring on an RBI single by Wright to right centerfield.

The Lady Techsters put the game away in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring five runs. Mary Terral scored on a fielding error by the Alabama A&M right fielder and then Diaz doubled home Lindsay Edwards to make the score 5-0.

Rizzato followed with an RBI single, scoring Diaz, and Bayli Simon drove home another run with an RBI single, scoring Addison Roark. With the bases loaded and Tech leading 7-0, Manning was hit by a pitch driving home Kailey Anderson with the game-ending run.

Game 2: Montana 4, LA Tech 3 (10 innings)

Marilyn Rizzato hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game, but Montana rallied to prevail 4-3 in 10 innings in the second game of the day.

With Tech trailing 2-0 and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Rizzato lined a pitch deep over the centerfield fence to plate Bailey Wright and tie the game at 2-2.

With the international tiebreaker rule in affect, Montana took a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth inning before Tech once against tied the game. Wright lined a ball to deep left field for the second out of the inning, scoring pinch runner Madie Green and tying the game at 3-3.

After Montana failed to score in the top of the ninth, Tech had an opportunity to win. However, a failed sacrifice bunt turned into an eventual line drive double play, erasing the runner from the second base and snuffing out the scoring opportunity.

Once again, Montana scored in the top of the 10^th on a two-out single to centerfield as the Griz (2-0) retook the lead at 4-3. The Lady Techsters than gave themselves another chance to win as Bayli Simon's bunt turned into a single, putting runners on second and third with no outs.

However, three straight outs failed to score a run as Tech fell to 1-1 on the year.

Sophomore Hannah Koenig and junior Audrey Pickett were solid in the circle in the loss. Koenig got the start and worked 5.0 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and one walk while striking out one. Audrey Pickett (0-1) took the loss, allowing two unearned runs on four hits and no walks with four strikeouts.