RUSTON – Louisiana Tech softball opened its home slate with a 12-3, five-inning win over Northwestern State on Tuesday night at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
 
The victory moves LA Tech to 9-2 on the season, while Northwestern State falls to 3-9. It marked Tech's first run-rule win of the season.
 
Four Bulldogs recorded two hits apiece in Bradi Gallaway, Reese Torres, Allie Furr and Rosalie Dufresne. Torres led the team with four RBIs and three runs scored. Elena Heng drove in two runs, while Jina Baffuto, Gallaway, Furr and Dufresne drove in one run each. Gallaway, Furr, Reagan Marchant and Aleah Brooks scored two runs apiece.
 
The Bulldogs used three pitchers in the win, combining to allow five hits and three strikeouts. Allie Floyd made the start in the circle and threw two perfect innings, not allowing a base runner while striking out two. Laney Johnson improved to 4-0 with the win after tossing one inning and allowing two unearned runs on three hits. Bryannah Campos pitched the final two innings, surrendering one unearned run on two hits and striking out one.

Cali Bennett opened the game with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a Gallaway single up the middle. Marchant and Brooks drew back-to-back walks to load the bases for Torres, who drove in a run with a fourth consecutive walk. Marchant later scored on a passed ball to make it 3-0, and Dufresne followed with a single to right to score Brooks.

A Jina Baffuto groundout plated Torres to extend the lead to 5-0, and  Heng drove in Furr, who reached on an error three at-bats earlier, to make it 6-0.

Torres made it 9-0 Tech in the second inning with a three-run, opposite-field home run that scored Marchant, who was hit by a pitch, and Brooks, who drew a walk. Furr, Dufresne and Baffuto followed with three consecutive singles, followed by a Heng sacrifice fly to center to score Furr to make it 10-0.

Tech added two more runs in the third. Furr plated Gallaway with an infield single, and Torres scored on a throwing error on the same play. Gallaway opened the inning with a single, and Torres followed with a double down the right-field line.

NSU scored three runs on four hits and one error in the fourth. The Demons opened the inning with back-to-back singles and plated runs on a fielding error, a single and a triple.

The Demons put two runners on in the fifth following consecutive Tech fielding errors, who went on to reach second and third with no outs. Heng later fielded a fly ball in center and fired home to cut down the lead runner, turning a double play to end the scoring threat.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Josh Taylor
 
On scoring a lot of runs early and starting fast…
"We got a quality start out of Allie [Floyd], and we knew we would. She was dominant for two innings. I think she was perfect for two innings and allowed our offense to score six runs in the first inning. We were really good at getting our pitch to hit tonight. We did not chase out of the zone. We had made her command the zone, and she wasn't able to do that, so we were able to take our walks, which puts pressure, and then we were able to get some hits in there. The result was a six spot in the first, which certainly is a good thing. Then they responded right again in the second with another four and then another two. I was pleased with our offense tonight. I think they did a really good job of commanding the strike zone as a hitter and getting something to drive. That was really nice to see, and especially coming off the weekend down in Youngsville, where the strike zone was a little bit big, they stayed true to themselves. Sometimes those things can go both ways. I think our hitters showed a lot of maturity tonight."

NOTABLES
- Head coach Josh Taylor moves to 4-1 in home openers at LA Tech.
- The Bulldogs move to 66-52 against NSU all-time.
- The win marks LA Tech's first run-rule win of the season.  
- Reese Torres has hit a home run in three straight games after hitting a three-run homer tonight.
- Reese Torres recorded her sixth multi-RBI game of the season and set a new career-high with four RBI.
- Elena Heng registered her third outfield assist of the season.
- Bradi Gallaway recorded her fourth multi-hit game of the season while Allie Furr posted her third.

NEXT UP
The Bulldogs will have Wednesday off before hosting ULML at home on Thursday evening. First pitch from Dr. Billy Bundrick Field is set for 6 p.m.