RUSTON – Louisiana Tech dropped its series opener Friday night to Southern Miss 2-1 at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
 
The Bulldogs move to 10-3 after getting outhit 9-5 in the loss. LA Tech did not come away with any extra base hits while Southern Miss tallied three doubles.
 
Resse Torres led Tech with two hits, while Cali Bennett, Allie Furr and Elena Heng recorded one hit apiece. Furr drove in LA Tech's lone run that scored Bradi Gallaway.  
 
Ruby Fidge (1-2) took the loss in the circle. Fidge entered in the fifth and gave up two runs on four hits in her one inning. Laney Johnson made the start and tossed 4.0 innings while giving up no runs, four hits and three walks. Bryannah Campos had a solid relief performance to close the game, allowing no runs, two hits with three strikeouts.

Kayla Giardina went the distance to earn the win for USM. She struck out seven Bulldogs and only walked one.
 
LA Tech would take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth as Furr drove in Gallaway on a single. Gallaway reached on a walk to start the inning and advanced into scoring position on a Torres single to right.
 
Southern Miss tied the game in the fifth, using a double, a sacrifice bunt and a single to score their first run.
 
The Golden Eagles took the lead in the sixth after the lead off batter singled and advanced to third on a double. Another single brought her home to put USM up 2-1. The lead held, as the Bulldogs managed just one base runner over the final two innings.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Josh Taylor
 
On what coach Taylor saw from his team in the loss.…
"I saw our pitchers do their job, our defense do its job, and our hitters just not doing their job. If you are going to win at this level and if you are going to win championships this level, everybody has got to show up every day, and everybody has got to do their job. Tonight, our hitters did not show up. Five hits, we struck out seven times. Six of those strikeouts are from our three, four and five hitters.... the middle of our order.... just unacceptable. That was the message to them just now. We have to be more competitive." 
 
NOTABLES
- The Bulldogs move to 37-19 against Southern Miss all-time.  
- LA Tech moves to 3-1 in one-run game this season.
- Reese Torres registered her fifth multi-hit game of the year.
- Bryannah Campos recorded her fourth scoreless outing of the season in the circle when pitching two or more innings. She also matched her career-high with three strikeouts.
- Bradi Gallaway scored her 10^th run of the season.  
 
NEXT UP
The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles will be back in action tomorrow afternoon. First pitch from Dr. Billy Bundrick Field is set for 2:05 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.