RUSTON – Louisiana Tech softball returns home to Dr. Billy Bundrick Field to host Liberty this weekend after an eight-game road trip that saw the Bulldogs post a 5-3 mark. The Flames sit atop the Conference USA standings while the Bulldogs are in second place. This will be the final home series for LA Tech as senior day is set for Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs and Flames will kick things off on Friday at 6:00 p.m., followed by a 2:00 p.m. matchup on Saturday and a 12:00 p.m. meeting on Sunday. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Series Information
Date: April 25-27
Time: Friday – 6 p.m. | Saturday – 2 p.m. | Sunday – 12 p.m.
Location: Dr. Billy Bundrick Field (Ruston, La.)
Watch: ESPN+
Series: Liberty, 6-0
 
SERIES HISTORY VS. LIBERTY
 
This will be the seventh, eighth and ninth all-time meetings between the Bulldogs and Flames. The two schools first met in the 2016 season as Liberty made its first ever trip to Ruston to play in the LA Tech Classic. LU won the inaugural meeting 5-1 and would pick up a second win over LA Tech a week later in the LSU invitational. The two schools met for the first time in eight years lst season and for the first time as CUSA members. Liberty swept the Bulldogs in the regular season (2-0, 3-0, 2-0) and ended LA Tech's run in the CUSA Tournament at the hands of a 5-0 defeat.  
 
ABOUT LA TECH
 
The Bulldogs moved to 29-18 (14-7 CUSA) after shutting out Stephen F. Austin 9-0 on Tuesday night. The 9-0 win marked the Bulldogs' sixth shutout win of the season and their third run-rule win of the year. Laney Johnson tossed the program's first no-hitter in six years after pitching 5.0 innings and allowing no hits, no runs and no walks while striking out two Lumberjacks. Her no-hitter marks the programs first no-hit bid since Preslie Gallaway no-hit Penn State on Feb. 24, 2019.
 
Johnson moves to 5-3 in the circle this season with three complete games and two shutouts under her belt. The true freshman has pitched 61.0 innings and has allowed 39 runs (31 earned) on 67 hits. She has struck out 19 while walking 18. Johnson ranks second on the team in innings pitched (61.0), wins (5), strikeouts (19), and ERA (3.56).
 
The Bulldogs outhit SFA 9-0 on Tuesday night. Reagan Marchant led the way as she tallied two hits and three RBI. The redshirt-sophomore hit her 14^th home run of the season and is tied for second all-time in program history with 14 home runs in a single season. She added three RBI to her season total and leads the team with 42. Marchant has 43 hits, 42 RBI, 26 runs and is batting .321 this season.
 
Claire Raley added three RBI to her season total against SFA and surpassed 30 on the season. The senior third baseman is up the 32 RBI and 46 hits this season. She ranks second on the team with 36 runs.
 
Nicole Hammoude leads the team with a .379 batting average and ranks second on the team in RBI (41) and hits (50). Hammoude picked up her 50^th base knock of the season against the Lumberjacks is just one of two Bulldogs with 50+ hits this season.
 
Elena Heng leads the team with 52 hits, 37 runs, and 14 stolen bases. Alexis Gilio needs one hit to reach 50 for the season. The senior center fielder has 49 hits, 29 runs, and 22 RBI this season.      
 
Allie Floyd enters this weekend's series with a 20-9 record as she became the 18th LA Tech pitcher in program history to record 20 wins in a single season. Floyd is coming off her second CUSA Pitcher of the Week Award after tossing two complete games against Kennesaw last weekend. The right-hander logged 14.0 innings and allowed nine hits while striking out 11 and issuing just four walks. Floyd logged 7.0 innings in Thursday night's 4-0 win while only allowing three hits. She pitched a second 7.0 inning complete game in Saturday's 6-0 win and struck out eight Owls while allowing six hits. She leads the league in wins (20), complete games (15), innings pitched (173.0), and strikeouts (164).
 
ABOUT LIBERTY
 
Liberty comes into this weekend's series as the hottest team in CUSA. The Flames enter with a 38-10 (17-3 CUSA) record. Liberty was ranked as high as No. 22 in the D1Softball Top 25 Poll before going 2-1 against Sam Houston this past weekend. Their 2-1 loss to SHSU was just their third CUSA loss of the season after falling 8-2 to MTSU and 3-1 to NMSU. Liberty is receiving votes in all four major polls this week.
 
The Flames have won all seven of their CUSA series this season.
 
Liberty has three players with 50+ hits as KK Madrey and Rachel Roupe have 56 apiece. Roupe leads the team with 55 RBI, 16 home runs, while her 42 runs and .381 batting average are second best. Madrey leads the team with a .406 average ad ranks third with 41 runs.
 
Savannah Woodard ranks second on the team with 35 RBI and seven home runs, while her 54 hits are second most. Brynn McManus carries a .338 batting average and has tallied 49 hits, 32 RBI and six home runs.
 
Elena Escobar is the top arm in the circle for Liberty as she carries a 17-3 record and a 2.23 ERA. She has nine complete games, and four shutout wins in 109.2 innings of work. The senior right-hander has allowed 41 runs (35 earned) on 89 hits. She has fanned 127 and issued 32 walks.
 
Paige Bachman is 9-2 in the circle with 85.1 innings under her belt. She has allowed 96 hits to go along with 78 strikeouts, 27 walks, and a 2.79 ERA. Kaylan Yoder has posted a 7-4 record in 68.0 innings of work. Yoder has a 2.47 ERA and has struck out 72 while walking 54.  
 
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