It is cold all over the U.S. these days, even down south in Louisiana, where the Shocker softball team played in the Lady Techster Invitational.

The Shockers’ first scheduled game against Houston Baptist was cancelled due to the cold, but the following game against Jackson State was played as planned.

A back-and-forth game against JSU ultimately ended in a 6-3 Wichita State victory. Down 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Shockers came alive to give senior Sloan Anderson the run support she needed for the win.

Brittany Fortner reached on a fielder’s choice and then stole second to get into scoring position. She was brought home on a RBI double from Liz Broyles. Broyles advanced to third on a single from Cacy Williams.

Macklin Hitz tied the game on a RBI double of her own and was followed by Paige Luellen, whose singles up the middle scored Hitz from second. Luellen advanced on the throw to home plate and later scored on an error, giving WSU the 6-3 advantage.

Day two of the invitational held more success for the Shockers as they swept the competition in two close games.

Starting the day against University of Tennessee-Martin, WSU was able to hold onto a one-point win as they beat the Seahawks 8-7.

WSU jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning off of a RBI single from Broyles and a Williams three-run homer.

UT-Martin slowly chipped away at the WSU lead and finally took the lead off a three-run homer of their own. Fortner responded with a solo shot which was followed up by a two-run double to left center by Luellen to tie up the ball game. Melanie Jaegers hit a single up the middle to score Luellen and the Shockers preserved the lead.

“We are hitting the ball well,” head coach Kristi Bredbenner said, “especially in clutch situations.”

The second game of the day was against host school Louisiana Tech. Things were knotted up tight as the women held a 5-4 lead going into the fifth inning. After Kelli Spring (WSU) was scored on a walk and a two-run shot from LA Tech’s Alayna Kipp the game was sent to extra innings tied at 6 apiece.

Paige Mason and Megan McCracken both hit two-run home runs in the eighth to put the game at 10-6. Louisiana Tech tried to claw back in getting within one, but the WSU defense shut the door on that and held on to the win, 10-9.

“This team has fight,” said Bredbenner, “The 3-0 start has been great and as long as we keep hitting and fighting the whole game, we have a chance to turn this program around.”

On Sunday, the Shockers played St. Louis and came away with a 3-0 win to take the tournament title and finish the weekend a perfect 4-0.

The game was a pitching duel between Kaitlyn Malone of WSU and Brianna Lore of St. Louis. The scoreboard stood at 0-0 until a bases-clearing double from McCracken gave WSU a 3-0 lead they would not relinquish.

The Shockers were led this weekend by Luellen, who had a .583 hitting percentage with a home run and nine RBIs. She also had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage.

WSU takes part in the UT-San Antonio Classic that starts Friday. Their first game of the tournament is against Rutgers, with first pitch at 11:30 a.m.