RUSTON – Louisiana Tech softball will travel to Huntsville, Alabama, for its third tournament of the season as the Bulldogs will play four games in three days in the Rocket City Showcase, hosted by the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the minor league Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.
The Bulldogs will face three teams from the SEC in No. 20 Auburn, No. 17 Mississippi State, RV Ole Miss along with ETSU from the SOCON. LA Tech will begin the three-day event with UA on Friday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., followed by two games on Saturday with Miss State at 12:30 p.m. and ETSU at 5:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will close the weekend against Ole Miss on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
LA Tech's Friday matchup versus Auburn will be streamed on FloCollege and will be played at Toyota Field, the home of the Rocket City Trash Pandas. The Bulldogs' Saturday and Sunday games will be played at Charger Park on the Campus on Alabama Huntsville. There will be no stream for Saturday and Sunday.
SERIES INFORMATION
Date/Time: Feb. 21-23, 2025
Location: Toyota Field & Charger Park (Huntsville / Madison, Ala.)
Watch: FloCollege | vs. Auburn | Feb. 21. | 2:00 p.m.
Auburn Series History: Auburn, 7-3
Miss State Series History: Miss State, 15-9
Ole Miss Series History: Ole Miss, 12-4
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH (5-5)
LA Tech moved to 5-5 this season after picking up a 9-1 win over Northwestern State on Tuesday afternoon in the team's first midweek contest of the year. The Bulldogs only needed five innings to defeat the Demons and collected double digits hits for the third straight ball game. LA Tech registered six extra base hits in the win including three home runs, a triple and two doubles.
Reagan Marchant hit her third home run of the season, while
Claire Raley and
Alexis Gilio each recorded their first. Gilio's two-run home run marked the first long ball of her career. Marchant and Gilio led the Bulldogs with three RBI apiece in the win.
Five different LA Tech players have recorded double digit hits this season as Raley leads the team with 14 base knocks.
Nicole Hammoude is second on the team with 11 hits, followed by
Alannah Rogers, Marchant, and Gilio who all have 10 apiece. True freshman
Elena Heng is knocking on the door with nine hits.
Raley and Hammoude share the team lead with seven RBI each, while Marchant and Gilio have both driven in six runs.
True freshman
Laney Johnson made her first collegiate start in the circle against NSU and picked up her first career win in the 9-1 complete game performance. The Bulldog pitching staff has registered four complete games with junior
Allie Floyd pacing the team with three. Floyd has a 4-2 record and leads the team in innings pitched (34.0), strikeouts (30) and ERA (3.09).
ABOUT NO. 20 AUBURN (11-0)
Auburn moved to 11-0 on the season after going 6-0 in the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational in Clearwater, Florida. The Tigers are outscoring their opponents 76-41 while batting .300 as a team. Icess Tresvik leads the team in batting average (.471), hits (16), runs (16) and RBI (16). Nelia Peralta is second on Auburn's team with 15 base knocks followed by Abbey Smith who has 13. Tresvik leads the team with six home runs while Peralta has belted three long balls.
The Tiger pitching staff has posted a 2.78 ERA as opposing teams are batting just .252 against them. SJ Geurin is 6-0 in the circle and leads the team with 38.2 innings pitched. She has given up 32 hits and has struck out 22 batters and allowed 10 runs (eight earned) while posting a 1.45 ERA.
ABOUT NO. 17 MISS STATE (10-1)
Mississippi State enters the weekend on a nine-game winning streak after dropping their second game of the season 8-0 to Duke. The Bulldogs hosted The Snowman tournament this past weekend and collected wins over SIU, North Texas, Bradley (twice) and Georgia Tech. Miss State picked up their 10
th win in a 6-1 victory over Samford on Tuesday night.
The Bulldogs are outscoring their opponents 83-53 and are batting .316 as a team. Former LA Tech outfielder Sierra Sacco leads the team with a .433 batting average while also leading the team with 13 hits and 11 runs. Lexi Sosa leads the group with four home runs and 15 RBI.
Raelin Chaffin is the team's ace in the circle as she leads the Bulldogs with a 6-0 record and four complete games. She has pitched 32.2 innings and holds a 1.29 ERA. The Bulldogs staff has a 2.43 ERA and have limited opposing batters to a .222 batting average.
ABOUT ETSU (3-5)
ETSU enters this weekend's tournament with a 3-5 mark having recorded wins against Kent State and Maine (twice). The Buccaneers have been outscored 34-35 this season and carry a .269 team batting average. Cameron Young leads the team with 13 hits and a .542 batting average. She is one of three ETSU players with five RBI, behind team leader Sara Muir who has eight.
ETSU has a 4.46 staff ERA as opponents are batting .259 off Buccaneer pitchers. Eden Muncy has tossed a team-high 11.1 innings while Gabrielle Fowler has pitched 11.0 innings. Fowler leads the group with 11 strikeouts.
ABOUT RV OLE MISS (8-3)
Ole Miss moved to 8-3 this past weekend after going 4-1 in the Ragin' Cajuns invitational. The Bulldogs 6-5 to ULL in nine innings, but bounced back with wins over UCA, Northern Illinois and ULL.
The Rebels are batting .332 as a team and have outscored their opponents 66-20. Persy Llamas and Aliyah Binford lead the team with 16 hits and 12 RBI apiece. Taylor Malvin leads the Rebels with 10 runs and ranks third on the team with nine hits.
Miali Guachino leads the team with 1.30 ERA in the circle and has a 4-3 record through 34.2 innings. She leads the team with 58 strikeouts. Brianna Lopez is 4-0 in the circle and carries a 1.44 ERA through 25.0 innings.
