AUBURN, Ala. — Junior Britni Sneed hurled her 15th shutout of the season for the 9-0 win over Auburn to lead the fourth-ranked LSU Tiger softball team to its third consecutive Southeastern Conference Championship on Saturday night in Auburn, Ala. LSU took game two 6-3 to sweep the doubleheader.
“It was an eventful day,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “The Tigers are the SEC Champions once again. They are a hardworking group and deserve it. We are continuing to hit the ball hard, and good things will happen to teams that hit hard.”
LSU improves to 49-8 on the season and 26-3 in the SEC. Auburn falls to 28-30 overall and 9-20 in the SEC.
LSU jumped ahead with two runs in the top of the second in game one. Julie Wiese doubled to right center to knock in Trena Peel for the first run of the game. Jennifer Schuelke singled to shallow left in her first at bat to score Erin Johnson.
Stephanie Hastings led off the third inning with a solo shot over the wall in left center, and LSU followed Hastings with four straight hits. Johnson hit her fourth triple of the year down the right field line to score pinch runner Megann Steege and Peel. Wiese added a second RBI to her total with a single to knock in Johnson.
Johnson added a run in the fifth with her second home run of the year over the right field wall, and Peel slammed the ball over the center field fence in the top of the seventh to herself and score Steege and put LSU up 9-0.
Sneed now stands at 18-0 in the SEC with the win and is 29-5 overall. Sneed sat down 11 batters, only allowed three hits and walked one. She has not allowed a run in 33 innings of work.
The Tigers had 14 hits off Auburn pitchers Jaime Rasmussen and Mary Petrie. Hastings hit her fourth home run of the season, and Johnson hit her second.
In game two, Peel got things started with a two-run blast over the right field wall to knock in Douglas.
LSU sent three runs across the in the top of the third. Hastings singled to send home April Janzen, and Steege doubled to center field to pick up two RBI’s as Hastings and Peel crossed the plate. Steege scored the Tigers’ sixth run of the game.
Auburn sent a run home in the third inning when Wiese over threw first and allowed pinch runner Kim Freeland to score from second. They scored a second run in the fourth inning when Kimball Pratt grounded out but picked up an RBI as Kelly Sutton crossed the plate. Mary Petrie hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score Ashley Moore.
The Tigers combined for nine hits off Auburn pitchers Lily DuBois and Peitre. Douglas had two hits in the doubleheader to tie her with former-Tiger Tara Asbill with 279 career hits. Peel had two home runs in the games to bring her season total to eight. She was five-for-seven with five runs scored and four RBI.
Ashley Lewis went five innings in the win for the Tigers. She is now 18-3 on the season. Lewis allowed four hits, three runs, walked four and struck out three. Sneed earned her third save in one and two-thirds innings. She sat down four batters to put her three away from 800 career K’s.
LSU and Auburn will complete the SEC series with a final game on Sunday at noon. The game will be carried by the LSU Sports Network on 107.3 FM and over the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.