Ruston, La. -- The Nevada softball team took a 2-1 lead into the fifth inning but could not hold on to it as the Wolf Pack fell 9-3 to Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Nevada fell to 16-24 overall and 3-12 in WAC play with the loss. Louisiana Tech improved to 23-17 and 8-8. The teams will meet again in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. (PDT) with live stats and audio available at www.nevadawolfpack.com.
Sam Puzey went 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Wolf Pack while Kelsey Starr had two RBI with a double and a sacrifice fly.
Nevada jumped out on top early. With one out in the first inning, Danielle Patrick walked. She stole second to get into scoring position and scored on Kelsey Starr's RBI double.
In the fourth, the Pack extended the lead to 2-0. Britton Murdock led off with a single and moved to third on a ground ball by Lauren Lastrapes. With runners at the corners, Sam Puzey singled through the right side to score Murdock but Nevada could not get anything else across in the inning.
Leading 2-0, the Pack saw it's lead cut in half by a Lady Techster run in the bottom of the fourth.
Tech got the bats going in the fifth and sixth, however, putting up four-run innings in each to take a 9-2 lead. Tech put the leadoff runner aboard in each inning from the second inning on and while Nevada worked out of jams early, it was unable to do so in the fifth and sixth innings. WAC Player of the Year Amberly Waits had the big blow -- a three-run home that gave Tech its first lead at 4-2.
Nevada got one run back in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Kelsey Starr but that was it.
Katie Holverson took the loss. She pitched into the sixth, giving up nine hits and nine runs with five walks and three strikeouts. The Pack also was hurt by five wild pitches and two passed balls.
