RUSTON, La. – Emma Hutchinson threw a two-hit shutout and Louisiana Tech rallied for a come-from-behind win in game one leading the Lady Techsters to a Saturday doubleheader sweep over Nicholls State at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
               
Tech won game one 6-5 before run-ruling the Colonels 8-0 in five innings in game two. The Lady Techsters (27-15) have now won six straight games.
               
"I am proud of them," said Josh Taylor. "All of them. To go 5-0 this week with three wins coming by run rule says a lot about where this team is right now. We are starting to get production throughout the lineup.
               
"It was good to see Emma pitch so well today. That's her best outing of the year. We found a way to win the first game, and that's a sign of this group growing. I told our team that it doesn't matter if you are starting or coming off the bench at a certain point in the game.
               
"I knew when Brooke got on to start the seventh we were in good shape. Why? Because I knew I could bring someone like Tanj(ala) Smith into the game and she could cause some real problems. She stole a base. She made the right read on line drives by both Green and Cooper and she just put pressure on the other team.
               
"Championships teams have those types of players coming off the bench in those types of situations. I know everyone wants to start, but people are buying into their roles and its producing wins."
               
Trailing 5-4 and down to its last three outs, Tech rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh of game one for the victory.
               
Brooke Diaz led the inning off by reaching base on a hit by pitch and then pinch runner Tanjala Smith stole second base. One out later, Katelin Cooper singled to centerfield to put runners on the corners.
               
Cooper then stole second and on the play Nicholls State catcher Sadie Wells threw the ball away, allowing Smith to score and Cooper to move to third with just one out. Lindsay Edwards then hit a fly ball to right centerfield that scored Cooper from third with the walk-off run.
               
Audrey Pickett (18-4) picked up her 18^th win, allowing five runs – four earned – on 11 hits and one walk over 7.0 innings of work.
               
Nicholls State took an early 2-0 lead, but Tech rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the frame as Amanda Gonzalez scored on a passed ball and then Caroline Easom scored on a sac fly by Madie Green.
               
The Colonels (10-25) plated one in the second and two more in the fifth to take a 5-2 lead.
               
In the bottom of the fifth, Green singled to left field, scoring Easom and trimming the deficit to 5-3. Tech added a run in the sixth as Bailey Wright doubled to centerfield and eventually scored on a ground ball out by Sierra Sacco.
               
Gonzalez and Wright each registered two hits in the win.
               
In the second game of the day, it was all Tech as Hutchinson tossed a two-hit shutout in the 8-0 victory.
               
Sacco was 4-for-4 at the plate in the win with three runs scored while Edwards and Gonzalez each recorded their seventh home runs of the season.
               
Tech plated an early run on a sacrifice fly by Madie Green that was dropped by the Colonels outfielder and added two more in the third on an RBI single by Green and a RBI single by Edwards.
               
Gonzalez added to the Tech lead in the fourth with an RBI single to right field, making the score 4-0.
               
The Lady Techsters put the game away in the bottom of the fifth. Edwards led off the inning with a towering solo home run over the left field wall. Kylie Neel and Sacco each singled and then Gonzalez lined a three-run home run to right centerfield, ending the game.
               
Hutchinson (6-6) allowed no runs on two hits and one walk while striking out five in 5.0 innings of action.