College Station, Texas – The Louisiana Tech Softball team fell in its midweek non-conference matchup at No. 21 Texas A&M, 6-3 on Wednesday evening at Davis Diamond in College Station, Texas.
A pair of two-run home runs by the Aggies in the bottom of the fifth inning were the difference maker in the contest, pushing A&M ahead to a 6-3 lead which they would not surrender.
KB Briley continued her tear at the plate with a solo home run in the third inning.
Sierra Sacco extended her hitting streak to nine games by leading off the game with a single through the left side while Kyle Neel and
Amanda Gonzalez also added singles in the contest.
Every pitcher on the roster saw action for LA Tech.
Allie Floyd started the game, allowing a run on two hits and a strikeout.
Lauren Menzina threw a hitless third inning to keep the Aggies off the board.
Alyssa Martin struck out two in her one inning pitched.
NOTABLES
- KB Briley hit her second home run of the season with a solo shot in the third.
- Sierra Sacco extended her hitting streak to nine games with a single to lead off the ballgame. Sacco has now reached base in 10 straight games.
- All six pitchers saw action which was the most in a game this season.
- Bailey Wright and Brooke Diaz both got hit by pitches for the 26th and 23rd time respectively. Wright ranks third in program history in the category while Diaz is right behind in fourth.
QUOTABLES
"Everything starts with the details. Two out of the three innings they scored started with leadoff walks, it is a detail we have to be better at. In the third inning we had the bases loaded with no outs and a few runs in already. We have to get better jumps in that situation and work harder on the base paths to force the infielders to take a couple steps to their left or right. We did not take care of the details tonight, " – Head Coach
Josh Taylor
HOW IT HAPPENED
Allie Floyd made her eighth start of the season for the Lady Techsters, while left-hander Emiley Kennedy got the start for Texas A&M.
Sierra Sacco extended her hitting streak to nine games with a single through the left side to lead off the game and then moved over with a sacrifice bunt by
Amanda Gonzalez. However, Kennedy retired the next two Tech batters to keep Sacco at second and Tech off the board.
In the bottom half, the Aggies put runners on the corner courtesy of a leadoff walk and a single to left field. The leadoff batter came around to score one batter later on a sacrifice fly as A&M took the 1-0 lead.
Both teams were retired in order during the second inning.
KB Briley led off the top of the third with a solo home run to left centerfield to tie the game. Following the Briley homer, A pitch hit
Bailey Wright and
Sierra Sacco walked. Gonzalez stepped to the plate and laid a perfect bunt down the first base line for an infield single to load the bases. Katelin Cooper gave Tech the lead with a bases-loaded walk before
Caroline Easom took another free pass to extend the lead to 3-1 in favor of Tech.
Lauren Menzina relieved Floyd in the bottom of the third and pitched a hitless frame to keep the Aggies at bay.
Briley led off the top of the fourth with a walk for the Techsters' lone baserunner of the inning.
Mary Martinez came in to pitch and
Bailey Wright exited the game in the bottom of the fourth after taking a pitch off the helmet in the third. A&M led off the bottom half of the inning with a leadoff double and later made it a one-run game with a sacrifice fly to right centerfield.
Brook Melnychuk relieved Martinez with two outs in the inning and runners on first and second. Melnychuk issued a groundout to Briley at third to get the final out of the inning.
In the top of the fifth inning,
Kylie Neel singled down the right field line and
Brooke Diaz was hit by a pitch but they were stranded as Texas A&M left fielder Bre Warren robbed
Jordyn Manning of a likely RBI extra-base hit with a diving catch to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Texas A&M took a 6-3 lead courtesy of a pair of two-run home runs by Julia Cottril and Keely Wiggins.
Alyssa Martin relieved Melnychuk in the inning and struck out two Aggies.
Alannah Rogers reached base for the first time in her career by drawing a walk to cap an eight-pitch at bat in the top of the sixth.
Emma Hutchinson silenced the A&M bats with a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the sixth.
Tech went down in order in the top of the seventh to fall to 18-10 on the season, while Texas A&M improved to 17-10.
Brook Melnychuk took the loss for LA Tech to drop to 4-4 while Emily Leavitt was credited with the win for the Aggies to run her record to 5-4.
NEXT UP
The Lady Techsters will return to Dr. Billy Bundrick field and resume Conference USA play with a three game series against Middle Tennessee with game one set for Friday 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.
