SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Louisiana Tech saved its best for last in the opening weekend of Conference USA action.

Tech (13-14, 3-1 C-USA) trailed heading into its final at bat of both ends of Saturday's doubleheader against UTSA (7-19, 1-3) at Roadrunner Field.

Yet it never flinched.

The Lady Techsters pulled out 8-6 and 4-2 wins to claim the series and sit atop the West Division standings through one weekend of play.

"What a way to open conference weekend," said interim head coach Bianca Duran. "For the team to answer back the way that we did after game two, that's all I could ask for. We went into today's games with the goal to win every pitch and staying locked in the entire day."

The Lady Techsters won Friday's opener 8-4 – plating four runs in the final at bat – before seeing UTSA dominate in game two by a score of 17-2. The 15-run loss just seemed to fuel Tech on Saturday.

Game 1: LA Tech 8, UTSA 6

UTSA hit four home runs against Tech starter Bre Hernandez, but the senior hurler recorded a gutsy performance in the circle.

Just 24 hours after tossing a complete-game in the first game win over UTSA, Hernandez worked 7.0 innings allowing six runs on eight hits and five walks while striking out eight.

Tech took an early 1-0 lead when Kylie Neel drilled the first pitch of the game over the centerfield fence for her first home of the season. It wouldn't be her last of the day though.

"Kylie coming up to lead off the day with a first pitch home-run to centerfield electrified our dugout from the get go and it never stopped," said Duran.

The Roadrunners responded as Madison Washington hit two-run home runs in both the second and third innings giving the Roadrunners a 4-1 lead. A solo home run by Kat Ibarra in the fourth inning increased the UTSA lead to 5-1.

Tech answered in the top of the fifth, plating three runs on two hits. Madie Green drove home a run with an RBI groundout and then Amanda Gonzalez followed with an RBI double. Gonzalez had a terrific weekend at the plate, going 6-for-10 while reaching base safely in 10-of-14 plate appearances.

"My approach at the plate was to just get my foot down on time and keep my swing short and sweet," said Gonzalez who is now 12 of her last 22 at the plate. "I just wanted to put the ball in play and pass the bat to my teammates so they could come in and do what they do best."

UTSA added another solo home run in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead back to 6-4. The game stayed that way until the top of the seventh when the Lady Techsters plate four runs on three hits and two UTSA errors.

Green singled and Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and then KB Briley drove home a run with an RBI single down the left field line, cutting the deficit to 6-5. After Brooke Diaz walked, UTSA committed a fielding error on a ground ball back to the pitcher that tied the game at 6-6.

One out later, Zoe Hicks drove home the go-ahead run with an infield single while a throwing error on the play allowed a second run to score. Tech led 8-6.

Hernandez allowed a couple of base runners in the bottom of the seventh, but with the tying runs on second and third, she struck out Taylor Medina to end the game.

"Knowing they had seen me a full game on Friday I knew it was important to not leave the ball too much on the plate," said Hernandez. "I just relied on my mindset to control the uncontrollable and to keep fighting.

"With the home runs I pulled the team aside and told them I needed them to pick me up. I was leaning on them. Amanda told me to hold them and they would push some runs across. I really relied on my teammates and kept fighting and competing."

Game 2: LA Tech 4, UTSA 2

In the second game of the day, Tech saved its heroics for the seventh inning once again.

Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh, freshman Tristin Court lined a single to right field to start the inning. One out later, Zoe Hicks found herself behind in the count 1-2. After fouling of a couple of pitches, Hicks drilled an outside pitch opposite field over the left field wall to give the Lady Techsters a 3-2 advantage.

"My approach was just to pass the bat," said Hicks. "We had found success as a team shortening up and finding holes the entire series, so that was my goal. Find a way on and pass the bat.

"I got a couple strikes called that I didn't agree with so I was just looking to fight off pitches till I could get a good piece of one. She gave me one up and out, and I got good barrel on it."

The Techsters weren't done. Kylie Neel came up and hit the second pitch she saw over the centerfield fence for her second home run of the afternoon, increasing the Lady Techsters lead to 4-2.

Audrey Pickett, who struggled mightily allowing eight runs in 1.2 innings of work in the game two loss on Friday to UTSA, was solid in the circle on Saturday. Pickett (4-6) allowed just two runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out four in the complete-game effort.

"Today I just went out there with a chip on my shoulder because I knew I had something to prove to myself and I needed to win for my team," said Pickett. "I knew the game yesterday was not who I was as a pitcher. I went out there with my head held high because I needed to get the job done. I didn't ever have a thought that we weren't going to win that game because we came out swinging and making plays all over the place."

UTSA put the tying runs on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Pickett induced back-to-back ground ball outs to end the game.

"Bre and Audrey took us the distance today in throwing complete games with the strong support behind the plate by Brooke Diaz and solid defense behind them," said Duran. "We truly found a way to fire on all cylinders today, and it was a passionate day where the team truly left it all on the field."

Tech returns to action Tuesday when it travels to Baton Rouge to face LSU at 6 p.m.