Las Cruces, N.M. - The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (22-36) beat No. 5 seed Louisiana Tech, 8-1 in the second round of the 2001 Sun Belt Conference Softball Tournament. The Lady Techsters end the 2001 season with a 20-31 overall record.

Western Kentucky scored two in the third and three in the fifth and sixth innings to eliminate Louisiana Tech and advance in the tournament. The Hilltoppers had a 11 hits on the evening with five batters with two hits each - Melissa Gomes, Sara Alanis, Shanon Searle, Kristalyn Smith and Angela Dunhour. Dunhour had a career-high three RBI.

"Obviously I'm pleased that we came back and hit a pitcher that we struggled with in the regular season," said Hilltopper coach Leslie Phelan. "We scored throughout the game and we haven't always done that. Veronica (Giddens) did a good job, so we had solid hitting, pitching and defense. Often times two out of three of those will win the game."

WKU will play in the evening session on Saturday night. The game time and the opponent will be determined in the afternoon session. If NMSU beats UL Lafayette in Game 5 at 1 p.m., WKU will face the Aggies at 8 p.m. If UL Lafayette beats NMSU, WKU will face the loser of the 3 p.m. game - Florida International or Middle Tennessee - in an elimination game at 6 p.m.

Western Kentucky 8, Louisiana Tech 1 (May 11, 2001 at LAS CRUCES, NM) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Louisiana Tech...... 000 001 0 -  1  6  0      (20-31) Western Kentucky.... 002 033 X -  8 11  0      (22-36) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Louisiana Tech - PINKSTON,M. Western Kentucky - Giddens,V; Silver,A(7). Win-Giddens,V(11-14)  Loss-PINKSTON,M(5-11)  T-1:30  A-236 HR WKU - Dunhour,A (2).