Lady Techsters blank Northwestern State, 5-0

RUSTON – Behind dominant pitching, the Louisiana Tech Softball team shutout Northwestern State 5-0 on Tuesday evening at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.

With the midweek victory, the Lady Techsters are now 16-8 on the season including a 10-4 mark at home.

Mary Martinez (3 inn.), Brook Melnychuk (3.0 inn.) and Alyssa Martin (1.0 inn.) combined for the three-hit shutout. Melnychuk picked up the win with three innings in relief, as the starting pitcher must throw four innings to be credited with a win. The Saskatchewan, Canada native is now 4-2 on the year.

Amanda Gonzalez led LA Tech with two hits at the plate. Kylie Neel reached base three times, going 1-1 with a walk and a hit-by pitch. Katelin Cooper, Ella Rose Wright and Brooke Diaz recorded an RBI, while Amanda Gonzalez stole her ninth base of the season.

NOTABLES
• Jordyn Manning’s single in the fifth inning increased her hitting streak to five games.
• Sierra Sacco is also on a five-game hitting streak and has reached base in six consecutive games.
• Amanda Gonzalez recorded her fifth multi-hit game of the season and the 30th multi hit game of her career.
• LA Tech is now 263-183 in games started by a right-handed pitcher this decade, including a 50-37 mark under head coach Josh Taylor.
• The Lady Techsters’ pitching staff threw its seventh shutout of the season.
• Tech is now 513-265 all time at home, including a 39-18 mark at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field.
• The Lady Techsters improved to 8-2 this season when wearing their white jerseys.

QUOTABLES
“Getting the lead early tonight was big for us. Our pitching staff threw great tonight. All three pitchers threw really well and our defense played really well. When we can pitch and play defense like that it takes pressure off of our offense and when we score early runs they can settle in a bit which is what happened. I could not be prouder of the job Chelsea (Cohen) has done with our pitchers and Shelby (Hiers) has done with our defense. Once we click on offense we are going to be a dangerous team,” – Head Coach Josh Taylor

HOW IT HAPPENED
Mary Martinez made her third start of the season, throwing three shutout innings while striking out three and allowing just two hits.

Bailie Raggsdale led off the game with an infield single, but that is all Northwestern State would get as Martinez retired the next three batters courtesy of a sacrifice bunt, strikeout and a lineout to Sacco in centerfield.

Sierra Sacco led off the bottom of the first with her 15th walk of the season. Amanda Gonzalez followed by crushing a pitch to right field that one-hopped the wall sending Sacco to third. On the next pitch, Gonzalez stole second, drawing an errant throw from NSU catcher Ashlyn Walker that sent Sacco home for the game’s first run. Tech then increased its lead when Brooke Diaz drove home Gonzalez on a ground ball to the shortstop, making it 2-0 Tech.

Martinez threw another scoreless frame in the second.

Tech doubled its lead in the bottom of the second. The Lady Techsters loaded the bases with one out, courtesy of singles by Bailey Wright and Sacco, before Gonzalez got hit by a pitch for the 38th time in her career. A groundout by Katelin Cooper drove in Bailey Wright, followed by a wild pitch that scored Sacco and gave Tech a 4-0 advantage.

Martinez picked up her third strikeout of the night to cap the top of the third inning. The Lady Techsters got retired in order during the bottom of the third.

Brook Melnychuk relieved Mary Martinez in the fourth inning and was impressive in her three innings pitched, allowing just one hit while recording a strikeout.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gonzalez added her second hit of the night with a single through the left side.

The Lady Techsters added another run in the bottom of the seventh. Kylie Neel roped a single into left field to lead off the inning. Jordyn Manning singled down the right field line to move Neel to third before Ella Rose Wright drove her in with a single to right field to make it the final, 5-0.

Alyssa Martin made her fourth appearance of the season by coming in to pitch the seventh inning, and she was phenomenal, getting her first two batters to fly out and ground out before striking out the Lady Demons’ Lexi Roos to end the game.

Melnychuk got the win to move to 4-2 on the season, while Maggie Darr took the loss for Northwestern State to fall to 6-5 as the Lady Demons dropped to 12-10 on the season.

NEXT UP
The Lady Techsters are back in Conference USA play this weekend with a three-game series at FIU.

For all the latest in Lady Techster Softball, follow them on Twitter (@LATechSB), Instagram (@LATechSB) and Facebook (Louisiana Tech Softball) or visit the official website at LATechSports.com.