RUSTON, La. –
Lauren Menzina pitched a complete game in the circle and
Brooke Diaz recorded the two-out, game-winning walk off hit in the bottom of the seventh lifting Louisiana Tech to a 4-3 victory over UAB Saturday afternoon at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
Tech (31-17, 11-6 C-USA) fell behind early for the second straight day but came up with some clutch two-out hits to rally for the second straight game against UAB (21-20, 9-7).
Menzina saw the first five hitters of the day record base hits, but she managed the damage allowing just two runs and keeping the Blazers from a bigger inning. The sophomore from Cedar Creek High School allowed just five more hits over the final 6.0 innings in the complete-game win.
"That was a gutsy effort from Lauren," said Tech head coach
Josh Taylor. "She didn't get rattled in the first inning despite UAB's success at the plate early. She limited the damage and then was in control the rest of the game. That's the kind of performance we needed from her and she came through in a big way."
Tech responded in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and runners on the corners
Madie Green rope an RBI double to left centerfield, plating
Sierra Sacco and trimming the Blazers lead in half.
The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the fourth inning.
Lindsay Edwards reached on an error and
Katelin Cooper singled and with two outs,
Kylie Neel singled up the middle to plate both runners and give the Lady Techsters a 3-2 advantage.
UAB countered in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, a single, stolen base and then single scored the tying run as the game was knotted at 3-3.
Neither team scored in their next at bat sending the game to the bottom of the seventh inning.
Sierra Sacco singled and
Amanda Gonzalez followed with a single to put runners on first and second. After a fly out by
Caroline Easom, Diaz came to the plate with two outs. The Techster catcher then lined a 1-2 pitch into right centerfield for the game-winning RBI double.
"It was good to see us get some big two-out hits today," said Taylor. "All four of our runs scored with two outs. We have struggled with that at times this year but today we had three different times when different players came through.
"I thought we played a clean game. I thought we came out more focused today even falling behind early. This team is starting to believe. We still have plenty of room for improvement, but I'm proud with how they are finding ways to win."
Menzina (5-6) pikced up the win, allowing three runs on 10 hits and zero walks in 7.0 innings of action.
Diaz was 2-for-4 with an RBI while Neel was 1-for-3 with 2 RBI and Green 1-for-3 with 1 RBI.
Sierra Sacco reached base three times (hit, 2 walks) while scoring twice and stealing two bases.
Tech has now won nine of its last 11 games and has moved into second place in the Conference USA standings.
Game three of the series is set for Sunday at 1 p.m.
