No. 15 LSU slips past Louisiana Tech, 6-4

BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana Tech took 15^th ranked LSU down to the wire before the Lady Techsters fell 6-4 to the Tigers Tuesday night at Tiger Park.

Tech (13-15) led 4-3 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning before LSU scored three runs in the frame to pull off the come-from-behind victory.

“It was a tough loss for us tonight,” said Tech interim head coach Bianca Duran. “We’ve overcome a lot of adversity this last week. For the team to show up the way we did today, I couldn’t be more proud.”

Senior Audrey Pickett (4-7) went the distance in the circle, allowing six runs on seven hits and four runs with three strikeouts. Pickett allowed a single run in the first, two in the third and three more in the sixth in the loss.

“Audrey was a huge leader for us in the circle and provided confidence to our defense the entire game no matter what happened,” said Duran.

Trailing 1-0 with two outs in the top of the second inning, Tristin Court singled to center and then Jordyn Manning singled down the left field line. Olivia Ellingson followed with a double down the right field line, plating Court and tying the game at 1-1.

After Kylie Neel was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Caroline Easom singled to centerfield, scoring Manning and Ellingson and giving Tech a 3-1 advantage.

“Offensively we found a way to challenge the LSU pitching staff,” said Duran. “We forced them to use three pitchers. I was proud of us offensively for that, but we have to find a way to continue to capitalize on our ability to get on base.”

LSU (22-12) tied the game at 3-3 on a two-run single Daenica Coffey in the bottom of the third inning.

Tech rallied once again in the top of the fifth. With runners on first and third, Brooke Diaz laid down a suicide squeeze bunt, scoring Zoe Hicks and giving Tech a 4-3 advantage. The Lady Techsters loaded the bases with just one out, but a strikeout and a line drive out ended the threat.

Tech left nine runners on base in the game, including six in scoring position.

The Lady Techsters defense was stellar, turning three double plays in the game.

Next up, LSU heads to Missouri for an SEC series starting Friday evening at 6:30 p.m.

Tech returns to action Wednesday when it travels to Lake Charles to face McNeese State. First pitch is at 6 p.m.