SAN ANTONIO – UTSA softball returns 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. CT doubleheader on Saturday and that will be followed by a 1 p.m. contest the next afternoon at the Lady Techsters Softball complex.
UTSA leads the all-time series against LA Tech 19-5, including a 7-3 record in Ruston. Fans can watch all three games streamed live with a paid subscription to CUSATV.com or follow live stats on goUTSA.com
Standing in fourth place in the C-USA West Division, UTSA (16-19, 5-7 C-USA) is coming off Wednesday's 4-3 nonconference loss to cross-city foe Incarnate Word. The contest was highlighted by 2-for-4 effort at the plate from sophomore Celeste Loughman as the outfielder's performance lifted her to a team-best 39 hits on the year.
Altogether, Loughman (.331) is one of three Roadrunners to hold an average better than .300. Junior Bailee Baldwin continues to lead the way at .343, while freshman Ashlynn Walls checks in at .301.
In the circle, 3.1 innings with just one earned run on Wednesday against the Cardinals helped lower senior Lizzy Fox's ERA to 2.01 for the spring. Fox enters the weekend with a 10-8 record, issuing just 24 walks in 121.2 innings of action. Freshman Madison Nelson is the No. 2 for the Roadrunners, sporting a 5-11 record with a 3.70 ERA with just 18 walks in 98 innings.
Enjoying an eight-game winning streak, La Tech (24-17, 10-5 C-USA) enters the weekend in first place in C-USA standings. The league-leader is paced by a conference best 165 walks and four players who rank in the top 10 in Conference USA in walk to strikeout totals, including No. 1 and No. 2 in Morgan Turkoly and Kimmie Atienza. Turkoly also leads La Tech with 47 hits, 30 runs and 19 RBI while Sloan Stewart (.398) is the only other La Tech student-athlete batting over .300.
In the circle, the La Tech hurlers own a collective 3.70 ERA and the group is led by Preslee Gallaway's 2.62 ERA. The junior has a 12-6 record and leads the team with 87 strikeouts in 109.2 innings of work.
