Louisiana Tech lost 7-4 to Sam Houston on April 18 in the second game of their softball series at Dr. Billy Bundrick Field. The defeat leaves the Bulldogs with a record of 22-23 overall and 8-12 in Conference USA.
The loss is significant as it marks another setback for Louisiana Tech, which was outhit by Sam Houston, recording only five singles compared to ten hits from the Bearkats. Gracie Flores led Louisiana Tech with two hits, two runs, and one RBI. Alannah Rogers contributed one hit and one RBI, while Bradi Gallaway and Raegan Henderson added singles. Elena Heng and Rosalie Dufresne each drove in a run.
Laney Johnson started as pitcher for Louisiana Tech but took the loss after allowing six runs—four earned—on four hits over just over an inning. Ruby Fidge gave up one run across nearly three innings, while Bryannah Campos finished the final three innings without allowing a run and struck out two batters.
Sam Houston capitalized on early errors by Louisiana Tech to take a quick lead, scoring three runs in both the first and second innings due to fielding mistakes and timely hitting—including a three-run home run. Although Louisiana Tech managed to cut into the deficit through runs scored by Flores, Rogers, Heng, and Dufresne throughout the next few innings, they could not close the gap further.
Head coach Josh Taylor said after the game: “We make three errors in the first two innings. We put Laney [Johnson] behind the eight ball there, and it all leads to runs… You can’t play and win at this level doing that… Timely hitting, pitching and defense is what wins championships… It is not okay with me. We are going to work on fixing it now, but if we can’t fix it now, we’ll fix it in the future.” Taylor now holds a record of 157-114 as head coach at LA Tech.
Flores extended her hitting streak to eleven games with her performance against Sam Houston; this also marked her seventh multi-hit game of this season. The all-time series between LA Tech and Sam Houston stands at 21-17 in favor of LA Tech.
The teams will meet again tomorrow morning for their series finale.
