MONROE, La. – Louisiana Tech used big offensive innings and some solid pitching in the circle to sweep a pair of Sunday afternoon games, defeating Southern 16-5 and Mississippi Valley State 10-0 (6 innings) in the final day of the Best of the Bayou at the Ouachita Sportsplex.
Tech (4-1) batted .310 as a team over the weekend with a team ERA of just 1.40. The only negative on the stat sheet for the weekend were nine errors in five games.
"Overall, we can take a lot of learning moments away from this first weekend," said Tech head coach
Josh Taylor. "I am happy with how this team competed, but we still will need to continue to improve in a lot of areas if we intend to compete for a C-USA championship.
"It's a great start to the season and we will continue to grow and improve throughout the season. I am proud of our team and look forward to watching them compete through our 2022 schedule."
In the first game of the day, Tech fell behind early as Southern plate a run in the bottom of the first inning. However,
Madie Green's two run home run to centerfield in the top of the second inning gave the Lady Techsters the lead.
Tech exploded for eight runs on seven hits and two Southern errors in the top of the third inning.
Amanda Gonzalez opened the inning with a solo home run.
Sierra Sacco and
Caroline Easom then followed with back-to-back doubles followed by a walk drawn by
Katelin Cooper.
Brooke Diaz doubled to drive home one and
Lindsay Edwards walked.
Bailey Wright then singled to drive home two more runs.
Aleya Hill drove home a run with a sac fly and Easom finished the scoring with an RBI single.
Southern answered in the bottom of the third inning with a three-run home run highlighting a four-run frame. The inning was kept alive by a Techster error on a double play ground ball.
Emma Hutchinson came on in relief of
Lauren Menzina in the third and pitched the final 2.2 innings without surrendering a hit or a run to pick up the win.
"Emma through the ball very well today," said Taylor. "She was able to keep her pitch count down by throwing a ton of strikes and being aggressive in the zone. She responded very well today to Friday's tough outing and it was great to see her respond that way."
Tech added six runs on five hits in the top of the fifth inning. Hill and Gonzalez recorded back-to-back doubles and Easom followed with an RBI single. Cooper doubled off the wall in right and
Lindsay Edwards registered a two-run single.
Tech banged out 16 hits in the win.
In the second game of the day, Hutchinson pitched a complete-game two-hit shutout, striking out a career-high nine without issuing a walk.
Tech got on the board early, plating five runs in the bottom of the first inning – all coming with two outs.
Diaz, Edwards, and Wright each registered RBI hits and Hill added a two-run double as the Techsters grabbed a 5-0 advantage.
Tech plated two more in the bottom of the fifth inning in a two-run single by Edwards. Easom ended the game with a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth as Tech run-ruled MVSU.
The Lady Techsters will return to action Wednesday when they host Northwestern State at 6 p.m. at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
