RUSTON, La. – The Louisiana Tech Softball team will continue its non-conference slate when they travel to Mobile, Ala., to compete in the South Alabama Invitational with games against Tulsa and Mississippi State on Saturday before facing Furman and South Alabama on Sunday.
INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
Dates: Feb. 25-26
Location: Jaguar Field (Mobile, Ala.)
Saturday: Tulsa: 10 a.m. | Mississippi State: 12:30 p.m.
Sunday: Furman: 9 a.m. | South Alabama: 1:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
QUOTABLES
"Looking ahead, this weekend we play four really tough opponents. We will definitely get tested and we are excited about those challenges as our schedule continues to get harder and we prepare ourselves for Conference USA play,"– Head Coach
Josh Taylor
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (7-3)
LA Tech enters the South Alabama Invitational with a 7-3 record in head coach
Josh Taylor's second season at the helm.
It's last time out, Tech suffered a 3-1 loss to No. 15 LSU on Feb. 21, snapping the Lady Techsters' 15-game home winning streak. Taylor and pitching coach
Chelsea Cohen devised a plan to utilize several arms on their pitching staff, who responded to the plan by throwing five scoreless innings. LA Tech held the Tigers' hitters to a .290 average at the plate after LSU came into the matchup with a team batting average of .355 which ranked 15
th nationally.
Katelin Cooper led LA Tech with a career-high three base hits by singling in the second, fourth, and sixth innings.
Brooke Diaz collected an RBI with a single up the middle that drove in
Sierra Sacco in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Pitching has been the story this season for the Lady Techsters, as they hold a team ERA of 1.71. Freshman
Mary Martinez leads Tech with a 3-1 record and a .91 WHIP while posting a 1.47 ERA. Junior
Brook Melnychuk leads the Lady Techsters with a 1.27 ERA in 11 innings pitched.
Sophomore Center fielder
Sierra Sacco leads LA tech at the plate this season with a .364 batting average, tallying 12 hits and seven runs scored. Sacco's eight stolen bases also lead the conference and rank 11
th nationally.
Right fielder
Kylie Neel leads Tech with 12 RBI on the season. Neel accounted for over a third of LA Tech's run production by driving in 10 runs in the Lady Techsters six games at the Mardi Gras Mambo last weekend. She led the team by going seven for 19 at the plate with two doubles and a triple in addition to a walk, a hit by pitch and four runs scored. Neel's 12 RBI this season are tied for the Conference USA lead.
After moving from first to third base, senior
Bailey Wright has been impressive during her senior campaign thus far, leading the Techsters with 15 total bases while posting a .360 batting average.
LA Tech is led by head coach
Josh Taylor who is 46-23 in his second season at Tech and 169-132 in his career, with prior stops at Nevada (2017-2021) and Feather River College (2009-2012).
ABOUT TULSA (6-5)
The Golden Hurricane are 6-5 this season and coming off a 4-2 win over South Alabama last night.
Senior outfielder Haley Morgan leads Tulsa at the plate with an impressive .472 batting average, tallying 17 hits in 36 at-bats while driving in six runs.
Maura Moore leads the Tulsa pitching staff with a 3-1 mark and 1.81 ERA in 27 innings pitched.
Tulsa is led by Crissy Strimple who is in her third season at the helm with a record of 44-31. Prior to becoming head coach, she was an assistant at Tulsa for 14 seasons.
ABOUT MISSISSIPPI STATE (6-4)
Mississippi State is 6-4 this season and coming off a 6-5 loss to UCF on Feb. 19 in Clearwater, Fla.
Freshman infielder, Macy Graff leads the Bulldogs with a .536 batting average and 22 total bases this season.
In the circle they are led by Josey Marron who has tallied 21 strikeouts and three wins this season.
They are led by Samantha Rickets, who is in her fourth season as head coach with a record of 103-59.
ABOUT FURMAN
Furman is 4-5 this season and coming off splitting a double header against Gradner-Webb, dropping the first game 12-10 and winning the second 11-4.
Riley Ludlam leads the Paladins with a .423 batting average and 13 RBI.
Sierra Tufts is there ace in the circle with a 3.34 ERA and 3-2 record in 29.1 innings pitched.
First-year head coach Stacey Johnson-Whitfield leads the Paladins.
ABOUT SOUTH ALABAMA (6-5)
South Alabama is 6-5 on the season with and is coming off a 4-2 loss to Tulsa last night.
Meredith Keel leads South Alabama with a .452 batting average and 14 hits.
Olivia Lackie is the Jaguars top pitcher with a record of 4-2 and a 1.71 ERA in 32.2 innings of work.
Head coach Becky Clark is in her 17
th season at the helm leading South Alabama with a record of 655-369-2.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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