STARKVILLE, Miss. — Timely two-out hitting gave plenty of support to strong pitching performances by Britni Sneed and Ashley Lewis Wednesday night as the fifth-ranked LSU softball team swept Mississippi State by scores of 8-0 and 5-0 at the Mississippi State softball complex.
The Tigers, with the doubleheader sweep, are now 37-7 and 17-3 in the conference. Alabama, idle in the conference until Saturday, falls two games behind the Tigers at 14-4. Mississippi State drops to 26-20 for the year and four games behind LSU at 13-7.
The Tigers will try to go for their fourth series sweep of league play in the final game of the series here Thursday at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Network (107.3 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
Sneed went the distance in the opener, allowing just three hits and walking one, while striking out eight to run her record to 23-4. The 8-0 decision was her sixth consecutive shutout and ran her string of scoreless innings pitched to 50. Sneed had all the runs she needed early in the win as LSU pounded out 13 hits, the most in conference play this season.
Lewis went the distance against the Bulldogs in game two for the first time in league play since going eight innings to get the win against Tennessee on March 17. Lewis struck out eight of the first nine batters going through the lineup the first time, finishing with 10 strikeouts. Lewis allowed just two hits and just one runner to go to third in upping her season record to 12-3.
All this came just a few days after an emotional SEC sweep of Alabama which gave the Tigers the league lead and gave the Bulldogs hope that the Tigers might be ready for a letdown.
“You have to be concerned about that because we worked so hard for that and it was such a high for us taking those three,” said LSU Coach Yvette Girouard. “We had two great pitching performances. Britni Sneed once again just untouchable and Ashley Lewis throwing the way she is capable of throwing. She has struggled and we have struggled behind her defensively, but she was vintage Ashley this evening.”
In the opener, the Tigers jumped on starter Jennifer Nelson for a run in the first as Christy Connor doubled off the fence in left to score Dee Douglas who singled and stole second.
That proved to be the start of LSU’s first-game hitting exhibition as the Tigers put five on the board after two were out in the third inning on a double by Julie Wiese, a single by Erin Johnson, a double by Jennifer Schuelke and a single by Auburne Ziober as Nelson was driven from the circle and replaced by Kasey Whitehead.
State’s best chance to score on Sneed was in the bottom of the sixth inning with one out when pinch hitter Brooke Best walked and then Kellie Wilkerson reached on an infield single. Cheri Smith then hit a ball to Wiese at third who flipped to Jansen to get the lead runner and Sneed struck out Iyha McMichael to end the inning.
The Tigers got all the runs they would need in the second inning of game two when Erin Johnson reached on a catcher’s interference call. That set the table for Schuelke who took a Jennifer Purcell pitch to left field off the foul pole for her first home run of the season and the second of her career.
“I have always thought Schuelke could and should be a good hitter,” said Girouard. “She’s just got to bring it to the plate every day and when she does hit, she attacks the ball.”
LSU would get a run in the fourth when Dee Douglas’ bases loaded walk scored Trena Peel and then two in the seventh as Peel and Wiese would have RBI-scoring doubles.
The wins over Mississippi State were LSU’s 13th and 14th straight against the Bulldogs.