RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech Softball team fell to North Texas 3-2 in its three-game series finale on Sunday afternoon at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
Back-to-back home runs by Kalei Christensen and Rylee Nicholson of North Texas in the top of the fourth inning proved to be the difference-maker.
Sierra Sacco led the Lady Techsters with two hits, courtesy of singles in the third and seventh inning.
Jordyn Manning continued her tear at the plate with a solo home run in the bottom of the third. The solo shot was her third of the season and the fifth of her career.
Caroline Easom and
Bailey Wright also notched hits for Tech in the contest.
Allie Floyd (2.1 inn.),
Emma Hutchinson (0.2 inn.),
Mary Martinez (2.0 inn.) and
Brook Melnychuk (2.0 inn.) made appearances for LA Tech in the circle. Melnychuk highlighted the Techsters' pitching with two scoreless innings.
NOTABLES
- Jordyn Manning is currently on a career-high four game hitting streak. The West Monroe product batted .357 with five hits a double, a home run and three RBI in the Techsters four games this week.
- Sierra Sacco recorded her eighth multi-hit game of the season and is currently on a four-game hitting streak.
- Tech went errorless for the 10th game this season.
QUOTABLES
"We battled throughout the ballgame today but unfortunately came up short," – Head Coach
Josh Taylor
HOW IT HAPPENED
Allie Floyd got the start for LA Tech, while McKenzie Wagoner made her second start of the series for the Mean Green.
Floyd needed just six pitches to get through the top of the first inning. In the bottom half, Katelin Cooper drew a two-out walk for the Lady Techsters' first base runner of the game.
Floyd spun another scoreless frame in the second, highlighted by Cooper making a running grab in the left-centerfield gap to take a likely extra-base hit away from Molly Rainey of North Texas.
Wagoner sat Tech down in order in the bottom of the second with two flyouts and a ground out.
Tatum Sparks led off the third inning with a double to right-centerfield and scored on a single by Jodie Epperson to make it 1-0 Mean Green.
Emma Hutchinson relieved Floyd with one out and a runner on third and retired the next two to minimize the damage.
With one out in the bottom of the third,
Bailey Wright singled through the right side and
Sierra Sacco singled to shortstop. The Mean Green kept Tech at bay after the singles and escaped the inning unscathed.
North Texas extended its lead to three with back-to-back solo home runs by Kalei Christensen and Rylee Nicholson in the top of the fourth inning.
Tech responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth as
Jordyn Manning smashed her third home run of the season, a line drive over the left field wall. Manning's solo shot was her fifth career round-tripper and moved her into a tie for the team lead with Cooper.
Caroline Easom followed with a two-out single before Wagoner issued a foul out to end the inning.
The Lady Techsters cut the deficit to 3-2 on a unique sequence of events with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Katelin Cooper smashed a line drive right at North Texas first baseman Kailey Gamble for the second out of the inning. However, Gamble made a throwing error trying to throw out Sacco retreating from second, allowing
Amanda Gonzalez to trot home for the second run of the ballgame for Tech.
Brook Melnychuk pitched a pair of scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh.
Sacco singled to left center with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little too late as Wagoner got a flyout to end the ball game and earn her sixth win of the season, pushing North Texas to 14-9 and 2-1 in Conference USA play.
Allie Floyd took the loss for LA Tech (15-8, 1-2 CUSA) to fall to 2-4 despite owning a 1.73 ERA.
NEXT UP
The Lady Techsters will close out their 10-game homestand with Northwestern State on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
For all the latest in Lady Techster Softball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechSB), Instagram (@LATechSB) and Facebook (Louisiana Tech Softball) or visit the official website at LATechSports.com.
