Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Three runs proved to be all Louisiana Tech needed Thursday evening as the Bulldogs defeated Louisiana Monroe 3-1 in their home opener, which also served as the first game of this weekend’s LA Tech Classic.
Junior pitcher Allie Floyd had another dominant outing in the circle as the right-hander from Texas went the distance, allowing just one run on four hits while matching her career high in strikeouts with eight.
“Allie was outstanding tonight,” said head coach Josh Taylor. “Just outstanding. She was in complete control all night long. She consistently got ahead of hitters and we played solid defense behind her until the very end. She showed why she is one of the best pitchers in our conference and in the country.”
The Bulldogs got on the board early in this one, scoring a run in the first inning for the first time this season. After back-to-back groundouts to start the bottom half, the Bulldogs made some two out magic happen as Alannah Rogers drew a walk, followed by a Reagan Marchant single to left field. Marchant and Rogers both advanced 60 feet on a wild pitch, which set up a Claire Raley single to center field to score Rogers for the early 1-0 lead.
“It’s just quality at bats,” said head coach Josh Taylor. “They’ve worked really hard at it in the offseason and they both really focused on getting better and having better offensive years, and they’re off to great starts. I thought Reagan Marchant had great at bats today. I know she had the one hit, but her at bats were pretty good and quality at bats.”
Floyd’s dominance carried over into the second inning after recording a line out and a strikeout on the final two batters of the first inning. She struck out the first two batters of the second inning to give herself three early strikeouts, and would continue to dominate Warhawk hitters, retiring 14 straight batters.
ULM would breakup Floyd’s streak of sitting down 14 straight Warhawks with a single to right center in the top of the sixth inning.
LA Tech added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, as the Bulldogs once again used two out magic to scrape across the two scores. After a line out to start the bottom half inning, Rogers reached second on a double, followed by a Marchant strikeout. Raley plated her second run of the afternoon on a double to left center that scored Rogers. Hammoude followed up Raley with a double to left to score Rogers, making the score 3-0 Bulldogs headed to the seventh.
ULM led off the seventh inning with a single, but Floyd bounced back and got the ensuing batters to fly out and pop out. Miscommunication in the outfield allowed the Warhawks to reach base on a triple, scoring the runner from second to make it 3-1 late. With a runner on third and down by two, Floyd induced a ground ball which she tossed to Marchant to secure the 3-1 home opening victory.
Raley and Hammoude led the Bulldogs with two hits apiece while Raley led the team with two RBI, followed by Hammoude with one. Rogers and Marchant both recorded singles in the win, while Rogers led the team with two runs.
The Bulldogs will be back in action tomorrow evening as they host No. 13 Arkansas. First pitch from Dr. Billy Bundrick Field is slated for 6:00 p.m.
“We’re going to need to pitch…we’re going to need to pitch against Arkansas,” said Taylor. “They have a really good offense, so we are going to make sure we pitch, and we are going to make sure we defend, and then continue to have quality at bats. The run production will come, and we will get better and better as we go, that seems to be the way it goes.”
