BATON ROUGE – The pitching staff of the eighth ranked LSU Tiger softball team lead the team to a double header shutout against No. 17 Louisiana-Lafayette at Tiger Park on Wednesday.
“I think that the runs were very important for us in the region,” said head coach Glenn Moore. “They were against a very good ball club. ULL is respected in all the ranking committees and for us to be able to pull away with two wins, I think will help us down the road.”
In the first inning of game one, right fielder Dee Douglas singled to center field and later scored on a fielding error by second baseman Michele Bailon to put the Tigers ahead early 1-0.
The Tigers put runners in scoring position in the third when shortstop Tara Asbill singled to get on base and advanced to third on a single by third baseman Ashlee Ducote. Ducote then collided with the second baseman to cause a double play to end the inning, leaving the score at 1-0.
It was the bottom of the fifth before LSU would score again when catcher Stephanie Hastings scored on a double by Ducote. First baseman Shaunte’ Fremin then singled to center field to send home Asbill and Ducote to give the Tigers a 4 run lead over the Cajuns.
The Tigers would hold on to the lead to top the Ragin’Cajuns 4-0. LSU’s hitters combined for 10 hits with Ducote going 3-for-3.
Tiger pitcher Ashley Lewis went seven innings for her 13th win. Lewis only allowed one hit by Bailon in the second. She retired five batters at the plate and only walked one.
Game two remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when designated hitter Auburne Ziober reached first after being hit by pitcher Micah Barbato. Ziober then scored on a base hit by second baseman Hastings.
The Cajuns threatened to score in the top of the fourth when left fielder Tiffany Clark singled to start the inning. Clark then reached second when Bailon was hit by pitcher Britni Sneed. The Tigers would retire the next two batters, however, to end the inning.
Once again in the fifth, Louisiana-Lafayette had a runner in scoring in position, but the Tigers held her at third to keep them scoreless.
In the top of the seventh, catcher Megan Fields doubled to the right center, but Sneed retired the next batter to end the game.
This marks the first time since the 1997 NCAA Regionals that Louisiana-Lafayette has been shutout in a double header.
Sneed went seven innings to improve her record to 13-5. She fanned eight batters and only gave up four hits. Sneed has gone the last 29 innings without allowing a run.
The Tigers will travel to Mississippi State to face the Bulldogs in a double header on Friday and Saturday.