MONROE, La. – The ULM and Louisiana Tech softball teams are flipping locations for their home-and-home series and will play tonight's game (Tuesday, April 5) game at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field in Ruston, La. First pitch remains at 6 p.m. CT. This will be the fifth-straight road game for the Warhawks (18-14, 4-8) and they enter the contest having lost four of their last five games by single-run margins.
"We know that the season is a marathon and not a sprint," said ULM softball head coach
Molly Fichtner. "This is a big game and our focus is going to be on scoring more runs."
ULM is 14-6 in non-conference games and 3-1 against teams from Louisiana this season. The Warhawks won the last two meetings with the Lady Techsters with wins at home (8-5) and at Ruston (5-4) last season, but Louisiana Tech leads the series 68-38 overall. LA Tech holds the distinction of being the very first opponent for ULM in its inaugural campaign in 1980. The Warhawks won their first two games against the Lady Techsters that season and finished with a 7-7 overall record.
Louisiana Tech (22-15, 7-5 Conference USA) has won two games in each of its last two conference series vs. UTSA and UTEP after opening league play with a sweep of FIU in Ruston. The Lady Techsters lead Conference USA and are 14
th in the nation in walks drawn with 131 in their 37 games this season. Freshman outfielder Sierra Sacco leads the team with 49 hits, a total that tops the C-USA charts and places her ninth in the nation.
In the circle, Audrey Pickett has been dominant for LA Tech with 15 victories, best in C-USA and fifth in the country, and duplicates those rankings with her 132.1 innings pitched. Her 1.69 ERA is good for a No. 65 ranking nationally.
The Warhawk pitching corps has proved their worth with solid outings over the last conference series. Pitchers Kinsley Kackley and
Victoria Abrams helped their own causes over the weekend, each getting hits at the plate. Abrams had two hits and drove in two runs Saturday and Kackley had two hits Friday night. Kackley struck out eight in two starting efforts, with four in each game last weekend.
Senior outfielder
Korie Kreps and freshman second baseman
Alexis Chavez finished last week with four hits apiece with Kreps batting a team-best .444 (4-9) over the weekend series with UT Arlington with a team-best seven total bases and two runs scored. Kreps hit her first home run of the season Sunday to give the Warhawks a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
