RUSTON – A seven-run first inning proved to be the difference for Louisiana Tech on Friday night as the Bulldogs defeated Missouri State 9-5 at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field in the series opener. The Win moves LA Tech to 18-15 (4-6 Conference USA).
 
The Bulldogs outhit the Bears 9-7 with three extra base hits. Rosalie Dufresne and Alannah Rogers led the Bulldogs with two hits each. Jina Baffuto led the team with three RBI, while Dufresne added two.
 
Allie Furr, Reagan Marchant and Bradi Gallaway all had one hit apiece in the victory, with Gallaway's going for extra bases on a double. Baffuto hit her second home run of the season, while Rogers recorded her first triple.
 
Allie Floyd (8-8) recorded the win after starting in the circle, allowing three runs on five hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Floyd tossed 4.0 innings before giving way to junior Ruby Fidge.
 
Fidge logged 3.0 innings to record her first career save, allowing two runs on two hits.
 
Missouri State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first as the Bears logged three early singles to strike first.
 
LA Tech answered in a big way with seven runs on four hits in the bottom of the first. Elena Heng drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a double to right field from Gallaway. Marchant plated Gallaway on a single up the middle to make it 2-1 LA Tech.
 
Reese Torres drew a walk before MSU made a pitching change. Rogers replaced Marchant on the base paths after reaching on a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning. Aleah Brooks was hit by a pitch and loaded the bases for Dufresne who singled through the left side, driving in Rogers and Torres to make it 4-1.
 
Baffuto cleared the bases with a two-out three-run home run to left field, making it 7-1 LA Tech after one.
 
Brooks made it 8-1 Tech in the third after scoring Rogers, who reached on a triple, on a groundout.
 
The Bears added two runs in the fifth to make it 8-3. Floyd allowed two walks and a bases-clearing double before being replaced by Fidge. The Australian was able to induce two fly outs and a pop up, while leaving an MSU runner stranded
 
MSU made it 9-5 in the top of the seventh as Alexis Perales hit a two-out two-run home run. The Bears' first batter of the inning reached on a fielding error at third, which proved to prolong the inning after two outs were made after. 
 
QUOTABLES
Head coach Josh Taylor
 
Coach Taylor's Postgame Comments on what he saw from his team.…
"We got off to a real hot start. I mean, seven runs in the bottom of the first and to answer their [Missouri State] single run they got was huge. That sets the tone for the rest of the game. I thought we had really good at bats in the first inning and did a great job. It was just a really good start to the game. I think we need to find a way to complete it. Even throughout the game, there were hard hit balls that we hit right at some people, so there are some opportunities there that I thought were good at-bats, but they just did not go our way, and that is OK with me. When you are hitting the ball hard and you are doing things right, I think the game is the game at that point and I thought we did a much better job of that tonight and it showed in the final score."
 
NOTABLES
- Josh Taylor moves to 153-106 as head coach at LA Tech.
- The Bulldogs have scored seven or more runs in an inning three times this season after posting seven in the first.
- Jina Baffuto hit her second home run of the season.
- Bradi Gallaway upped her on base streak to 13 games while she moved her hit streak to four games.
- Allie Furr has recorded a hit in four straight games.
- Alannah Rogers hit her first triple of the season and the fourth of her career.
- Rosalie Dufresne registered her fourth multi-RBI game of the season and her third multi-hit game.
- Ruby Fidge earned her first career save.
 
NEXT UP
The Bulldogs and Bears will be back in action tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.