BATON ROUGE — Behind two home runs and four doubles, the LSU softball team swept a pair of games on Saturday in the Tiger Classic, defeating Indiana, 6-1, and run-ruling Southern, 8-0, in five innings at Tiger Park.
With the wins, the Tigers improved to 4-1 on the season and remained perfect in tournament play at 3-0. LSU will be the top seed in Sunday’s championship play, taking on fourth-seeded Grambling State at 11:15 a.m.
Indiana moved to 4-5 after splitting a pair of games on the day, falling to the Tigers and defeating Grambling. Southern also split on the day, losing to LSU and defeating Grambling, to move to 4-5 on the year.
Third-seeded Southern will take on second-seeded Indiana in Sunday’s first game at 9 a.m. The winners of the two bracket games will advance to the tournament championship game at 1:30 p.m.
“Everyone played well today,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We pride ourselves on our defense and we did not commit an error in two games today. We also hit the ball well, but our job is not finished yet. We still have to take care of business with two games tomorrow.”
Sophomore Emily Turner three a complete-game three-hitter to earn her first decision of the season against Indiana, while freshman Megan Jolly came back in the nightcap to throw a complete-game one-hitter to improve to 2-1 on the year. Both posted career bests with 11 strikeouts each.
“I thought Megan threw a good game against Southern,” said Girouard. “She stayed focused and in control. Emily came out and dominated against in the earlier game Indiana. She was also in complete control the entire game.”
At the plate, freshman Vanessa Soto posted three doubles on the day to move her season total to a team-best five. She went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored against Indiana before coming back to go 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs against Southern.
“Vanessa is a pure hitter,” said Girouard. “She is going to be a lot of fun to watch over the next four years in a Tiger uniform.”
Lauren Castle came away with a bases-clearing double for a three-RBI performance against the Hoosiers, while Stephanie Hill and Quinlan Duhon hit back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the fifth inning against Southern to give the Tigers the run-rule win over the Lady Jaguars.
Against Indiana, LSU got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Camille Harris drew a walk. After stealing second, she scored on a double off the second baseman by Soto.
The Tigers broke through for four runs in the bottom of the fourth. Duhon led off with a single to left center. After Dee Dee Henderson came in to pinch run for Duhon, she stole second. With one out, Andrea Smith reached on a fielding error by the left fielder and advanced to second while Henderson moved to third.
Lauren Uhle came in to pinch run for Smith at first and Erika Sluss came on to pinch hit for Kristen Hobbs . Sluss was hit by a pitch and replaced by Hobbs at first with the bases loaded. Castle then cleared the bases with a double, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. A single by Harris put her on first before Soto posted her second double of the game, scoring Harris to run the score to 5-0.
Indiana got on the board in the top of the fifth inning with a leadoff home run by Jennilee Huddleston, the first of her career.
The Tigers answered back with a run in the bottom half of the inning. Hill led off with a single down the left field line. She was sacrificed to second by Duhon and moved to third on a wild pitch. A sacrifice fly by Smith scored Hill and, once again, extended the LSU lead to five, 6-1.
Turner allowed one run on three hits with 11 strikeouts in the win. Emily Roark started and took the complete-game loss for Indiana to fall to 2-2 on the season. She allowed six runs, four earned, on eight hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
Against Southern, LSU got on the board with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. Hill led off with a single up the middle. After Henderson came in to pinch run for Hill, she stole second. With one out, Killian Roessner recorded an infield single off the pitcher and second baseman that moved Henderson to third.
Uhle pinch ran for Roessner at first and immediately stole second. A single down the left field line by Smith scored Henderson and an error by the left fielder allowed Uhle to score and Smith to take second.
Hobbs then singled to right field, allowing Smith to score from second. After a pitching change for Southern, Castle singled to center field to move Hobbs to second. A Harris walk loaded the bases. Soto grounded out to second base that scored Hobbs from third to run the score to 4-0.
The Tigers added a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs, and runners on first and second, Soto doubled for the third time on the day, scoring both Castle and Harris to give LSU the 6-0 advantage.
LSU earned the win in the bottom of the fifth inning. With one out, Hill launched her first home run of the season to left field. Duhon then came up and drove a 2-0 pitch over the left field fence for the Tigers’ eighth run and the run-rule win.
Jolly earned the complete-game one-hit win, facing just three over the minimum with a walk and a hit-by-pitch, while striking out 11. Kortney Ruiz started and took the loss for Southern. She allowed four runs on five hits with two strikeouts in an inning and a third. Jamye Roberts came on in relief in the second and allowed four runs on four hits with two walks in three innings.
Indiana 000 010 0 – 1 3 2
LSU 100 410 x – 6 8 0
Roark and Deaven. Turner and Hobbs.
WP