By Holly Weber, TTU Sports Information Coordinator
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.—The Tennessee Tech softball team (3-10, 0-0 OVC) hits the road for their final away tournament on Fri.-Sun. The Golden Eagles travel to Baton Rouge, La. for the LSU Invitational where they will face opponents of Liberty, Memphis, Louisiana Tech, and host LSU.
Liberty Lady Flames (6-10)
The Lady Flames are a member of the Big South Conference and directed under head coach Dot Richardson. Liberty heads into the LSU Tournament off of a 3-1 showing at the Louisiana Tech Classic.
Liberty's top four batting averages and top ERA are held by freshmen. Jaclyn Amader leads the team with a .327 average, six doubles and eight RBI, while Rylee Reynolds bats .325. Sarah Robertson and Deidra See both hit .286, with Robertson totaling a team-high 11 runs scored. The Lady Flames have already tossed three shutouts so far this season, including an 11-0 shutout in their opening game at the Louisiana Tech Classic where Julia DiMartino allowed only one hit while throwing a career-high 11 strikeouts.
The Lady Flames and Golden Eagles are tied 3-3-1 in the series, with the Golden Eagles last seeing victory in the 2013 season when Tech topped Liberty 10-3 in eight innings.
Memphis Tigers (5-10)
Natalie Poole stands at the helm of the Tiger Program, a member of the American Athletic Conference. After getting off to a 1-9 start, Memphis went 3-1 last weekend at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Classic.
Lindsey Stickrod (.311) leads the Tigers in homers (2) and RBI (14), while Brooke Lee bats .381 and Brittany Seale hits .313. Bayleigh Wisher is 3-1 in the circle with a 3.05 ERA.
Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters (12-3)
The Lady Techsters are under the direction of Mark Montgomery, who stands at the head of the program for his third season. Louisiana Tech is off to a 12-3 start, tossing six shutouts as a team.
Anna Cross (.356) leads the team with four homers, 15 RBI and 13 runs scored, while Tory Charters bats .400. Bailey Allen is 5-3 from the mound with a 2.02 ERA, and Preslee Gallaway has gone 4-0 with a 2.28 ERA.
LSU Tigers (14-2)
LSU, a power Southeastern Conference (SEC) school, is coming off of its fourth appearance in the Women's College World Series in 2015 and enters the weekend on a 10-game winning streak. Most recently, the Tigers went 5-0 at the Purple & Gold Challenge with their final game in the tournament being an 8-0 shutout in five innings over UL-Monroe.
The Tigers return five NFCA All-Americans this year. Sahvanna Jaquish (.500, 20 RBI) and Kellsi Kloss (.400, 21 RBI) are tied for the team lead with four homers. Bianka Bell bats .368 with 13 RBI. Allie Walljasper is 3-2 with a 0.42 ERA, while Sydney Smith is 3-0 with a 0.37 ERA.
The Golden Eagles will kick off tournament play on Friday against Liberty at 2:30 p.m. followed by a 7:30 p.m. matchup against host LSU. On Saturday, Tech will continue play with a game against Memphis at noon, followed by a 2:30 p.m. contest versus Louisiana Tech. Finally, the Golden Eagles will round out tournament play on Sunday with a noon game against LSU.
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