BATON ROUGE — Excellent pitching by the Tiger arsenal and a solid defense led the eighth ranked LSU (22-5, 4-1 SEC) softball team to a pair of wins over the Tennessee Lady Vols (12-16, 2-3 SEC) on Saturday at Tiger Park, 5-0 and 2-1 in eight innings.
“Our pitching once again was up to the task for the doubleheader,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “I am the most pleased with our defense. They played much better today. We hit the ball hard all day. It took us a while to get things going in game two, but we ended up getting the needed hits. I was pleased with our offensive performance and the team as a whole today.”
The Tigers move to 22-5 overall and 4-1 in Southeastern Conference play. The Lady Vols fall to 12-16 overall and 2-3 in the SEC.
Saturday’s double header will be televised on a tape delay basis by the Pelican Spots Network on Baton Rouge Channel 18 at 7 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday.
SEC Pitcher of the Week Britni Sneed pitched her first complete no-hitter of the season in game one against the Lady Vols while striking out 13 batters in the process.
In the Tigers’ half of the second, April Janzen stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and singled to left field for her first hit since Valentine’s Day to score Megann Steege for the Tiger lead.
LSU increased the lead in the fourth inning when catcher Jennifer Schuelke doubled to right field and pinch runner Kelly Levesque scored when Janzen reached base on a fielding error by center fielder Janette Koshell.
LSU completed the run tally in the fifth inning with three runs on three hits. Steege hit her second single of the day to send Stephanie Hastings in for a Tiger run. Trena Peel followed Steege with her fourth triple of the season to pick up two RBI when Steege and Wiese each crossed home.
The Tigers had 11 hits off Tennessee pitcher Stephanie Humphrey. Steege led the Tigers with two hits, two runs and one RBI. Schuelke went two-for-three at the plate with her third double of the year. Hastings hit her fifth double and Peel hit her fourth triple of the season.
In game two, Trena Peel scored the first Tiger run when she stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Maura Mollet and then stole home. But the Lady Vols answered back in the top of the sixth when Melissa Radley doubled off the left field wall to send Mollet home from first base.
The Tigers threatened in the bottom of the sixth with runners on second and third with only one out. Tiger head coach Girouard was tossed from the game while arguing a ruling by the umpire that sent Hastings back to first base after she advanced to second while the defense was not paying attention. Hastings went back to second on defensive indifference the next play. The Tigers, however, could not get the bats started and left the two runners stranded.
After leaving two runners stranded once again in the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers got the job done in the bottom of the eighth. Steege, who had the game winning hit against Florida less than a week ago, singled to send home Dee Douglas for the Tiger win.
Steege went three-for-six on the day with three RBI. The Tigers had five hits in game two off Lady Vol pitcher Leigh Ann Ellis, who had three Ks and three walks.
Senior pitcher Ashley Lewis pitched her sixth complete game of the year to improve her record to 8-1. Lewis only gave up three hits and struck out eight.
LSU will face Tennessee in the final game of the series on Sunday at 11 a.m. in Tiger Park before taking to the road for Spring Break games with South Carolina, Coastal Carolina and Georgia. Saturday’s game will be broadcast by the LSU Sports Network on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and www.LSUsports.net.