SAN ANTONIO — UTSA will return to Conference USA action this weekend for a three-game series at Louisiana Tech. The teams will open the set with a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and that will be followed by a 1 p.m. contest the next afternoon at the Lady Techsters Softball Complex.
The Roadrunners (16-25, 8-7 C-USA) are coming off Wednesday's doubleheader sweep of former Southland Conference foe Sam Houston State. The day was highlighted by Bailee Baldwin's 3-for-4 outing in the opener in which the freshman homered and drove in a season-high five runs. UTSA pitchers also excelled in the matchup, as Lizzy Fox and Nicole Merrill did not allow an earned run in 14 innings of action.
UTSA enters the weekend series in third place in the C-USA West standings. Baldwin's big day lifted her batting average for the season to .271 and she is one of six players to hold an average better than .270. Jade Smith continues to lead the way at .324, while Kendall Burton checks in at .301. In the circle, seven innings without an earned run on Wednesday against the Bearkats helped lower Lizzy Fox's ERA to 2.75 for the spring.
Meanwhile, the Lady Techsters (21-15, 3-6 C-USA) are coming off a pair of midweek losses against Northwestern State and Mississippi State. The games are part of a nine-game home stand for Louisiana Tech, which holds an 11-5 mark in Ruston, La. The squad enters the weekend in fifth place in the C-USA West standings and the offense is led by Anna Cross, who is hitting .398 with 11 homers and 36 RBIs. As a team, the Lady Techsters are hitting .307 with five players batting north of .300.
In the circle, Louisiana Tech hurlers own a collective 3.70 ERA and the group is led by Bailey Allen's 2.91 ERA. The sophomore has a 9-5 record and leads the team with 62 strikeouts in 89.0 innings of work.
The Roadrunners lead the all-time series against Louisiana Tech, 16-2, and they have won the last eight matchups against the Lady Techsters. Last season, UTSA finished the regular season with a three-game sweep of Louisiana Tech in San Antonio before eliminating the Lady Techsters from the C-USA Tournament with a 4-1 victory.
