MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Louisiana Tech scored early and held on late in sweeping a pair of games Saturday defeating the Memphis Tigers 7-6 and 10-6 at Tiger Softball Complex.

"We found a way to get two wins," said Tech interim head coach Bianca Duran. "They may not have been pretty, but the girls came through with some big hits and some big outs. Tristin (Court) and Brooke (Diaz) stepped up big for us in the seventh inning of the second game. We did a really good job coming out and attacking them hard early. Then we went in cruise control for a few innings. We found a way to push a couple of insurance runs across which was big."

The two teams will play the third and final game Sunday at noon.

Game 1: LA Tech 7, Memphis 6

The Lady Techsters (7-11) capitalized on some wildness by the Memphis pitching staff in taking the first game of the afternoon 7-6.

Tech managed just four hits in the game but drew a season-high 11 walks in the game, including a program-tying single game record four by Zoe Hicks.

The Lady Techsters plated one in the second, three in the third, two in the fifth and one in the sixth and held four-run leads at three different times in the game. However, Memphis scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to close the gap to 7-6.

Bre Hernandez (3-4) retired the final two Memphis batters with the tying run on second base in the bottom of the seventh inning to secure the victory. Hernandez allowed six runs on 11 hits and five walks while striking out three in the contest.

KB Briley gave Tech an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single in the second inning. Briley added a sacrifice fly in a three-run third inning while Tristin Court picked up an RBI with a bases loaded hit by pitch and Kara Goff scored on a passed ball.

Leading 4-2 in the fifth, Bailey Wright drove home a run with a bases loaded hit by pitch and Jordyn Manning drove home a second run with an RBI groundout. Tech added a single run in the sixth when Hicks scored from first on a two-out RBI triple by Tanjala Smith.

Leading 7-3, Tech saw Memphis (5-16) plate three runs on two hits and one error in the bottom of the sixth inning before Hernandez shut the door.

Court (2-2, run, 2 RBI),  Briley (1-3, 2 RBI), Caroline Easom (1-4, run), Manning (RBI), Hicks (4 runs) and Goff (run) led Tech offensively. Hicks four runs scored tied for the second most in a game in program history.

Game 2: LA Tech 10, Memphis 6

Tech exploded for eight runs on nine hits in the first two innings and then held on for dear life to record a 10-6 win over the Tigers in the second game of the day.

The Lady Techsters scored five in the first and three more in the second to jump out to a 8-0 advantage and looked to be in complete control. Tech scored 5 runs on 5 hits in the top of the first inning to chase Memphis starter Maria Nicholls from the game.

Caroline Easom drove home Olivia Ellingson with the first run of the game with an RBI single to right field and then with the bases loaded, Tanjala Smith drew a walk to make it 2-0. Brooke Diaz then followed with an RBI single to centerfield followed by run scoring hits by KB Briley and Ellingson.

The Lady Techsters then jumped on reliever Abby Hilderbrand with three runs on four hits in the top of the second inning to claim the 8-0 lead. Smith drove home two runs with a double to right centerfield and Diaz added another RBI single – one of three run-scoring hits in the contest for the sophomore catcher.

Memphis then started to chip away at the deficit as the Tigers scored one in the third, two in the fifth and three in the sixth to close the Lady Techster advantage down to 8-6.

Audrey Picket (1-5) worked the first 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks with one strikeout. Emma Hutchinson came on in relief in the sixth and worked the final two innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

With Memphis trailing only by two runs, freshman Tristin Court led the top of the seventh off with a solo home run to centerfield – her first collegiate home run. One batter later, Diaz recorded her first collegiate home run to left centerfield to up the advantage to 10-6.

Memphis loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Hutchinson recorded a fly ball out to end the game.

Diaz (3-4, 2 runs, 3 RBI, HR), Smith (2-3, 3 RBI), Hicks (2-4, 2 runs), Ellingson (1-4, run, RBI), Easom (1-4, RBI), Madie Green (1-4, 2 runs), Court (1-3, 3 runs, RBI, HR), Briley (1-3, RBI) and Jordyn Manning (1-1) led the Lady Techsters at the plate.