PHOENIX — Junior outfielder Trena Peel’s third-inning bases-loaded triple paved the way for eighth-ranked LSU’s 14-2 drumming of No. 4 Washington in the first game of the season-opening Fiesta Bowl Classic hosted by Arizona State in Phoenix and Tempe, Ariz., on Friday morning.
The Tigers will travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the second game of round robin play against Wisconsin at 4:30 p.m. CST.
LSU also defeated Washington in last season’s first meeting, 4-2, in Austin, Texas, before the Huskies defeated the Tigers twice in 2000.
LSU (1-0) got on the board in the first inning when Dee Douglas scored on a Stephanie Hastings sacrifice fly. The Tigers extended the lead to 2-0 in the top of the second, as redshirt freshman Julie Weise hit a solo home run in her first official at bat as a Tiger.
In the third, the Tigers loaded the bases for Peel’s three-RBI triple and took a 5-0 lead. Peel would later score on a passed ball and the Tigers led 6-0.
Fourth-ranked Washington (0-1), which now holds a 5-2 all-time advantage over LSU, struck back in the bottom of the third. However, pitcher Britni Sneed got out of a second and third jam to preserve a 6-2 lead heading into the top of the fourth inning.
The Tigers piled on eight more runs over the final three innings while Sneed shut down the Huskies.
Sneed, a junior All-America candidate, allowed only four hits in seven innings of work, striking out nine.
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123 456 7 R H E ----------------------------------- #8 LSU 114 003 5 14 9 1 #4 Washington 002 000 0 2 4 4 LSU Pitching IP H R ER BB K AB BF ------------------------------------------ Sneed 7.0 4 2 2 2 9 23 28