BATON ROUGE — The eighth-ranked LSU softball team got a no-hitter from Tessa Lynam and broke or tied six records on their way to defeating Jackson State, 19-0, after shutting out Houston, 4-0, in the first day of action on Friday at the Purple & Gold Challenge in Tiger Park.
With the wins, the Tigers improve to 12-4 on the season and 2-0 in the tournament. Houston (7-9) and Southern Miss (6-7) each split their two games on Friday to move to 1-1 in the tournament, while Jackson State fell to 3-11 on the year and 0-2 in the tournament.
Play resumes on Saturday at noon, with LSU taking the field at 2 p.m. against Southern Miss. The Tigers will close out the day’s action at 6 p.m. in a rematch with Houston. Other games on Saturday feature Jackson State against Southern Miss at noon and Houston against Jackson State at 4 p.m.
“We obviously faced an outmanned Jackson State team,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “This is the way we can swing the bat and Tessa just took it to them. It’s good for a team to have fun and just raise some batting averages and swing the bat hard. I was not pleased with jumping out in front of Houston and kind of coasting the rest, so hopefully the Jackson State game got their attention a little bit.
Against Jackson State, LSU broke the school record for RBIs in a game with 17 and tied the records for runs (19), hits (21) and doubles (7). Leigh Ann Danos tied the record for hits in a game with a 4-for-4 performance, including two doubles, one RBI and two runs scored.
At the plate, Lynam went 4-for-5 from the plate with three doubles, five RBIs and four runs scored, tying the school records for hits, runs and doubles in a game. The day marked her first in the offensive lineup for the Tigers after being sidelined with a broken hand for the beginning of the season.
In the circle, she recorded her first complete-game no-hitter, after combining with Kristin Schmidt to throw a no-hitter against Cal Poly earlier in the season. She allowed just three base runners in the game while striking out 11 Lady Tiger batters in five innings of work.
“Tessa just wanted to play so bad after sitting out the first three weeks and not being able to swing a bat and only being able to pitch,” Girouard continued. “You can see how talented she is. She played first base for us today in the first game and she just dominated for us against Jackson State and is just a force to be reckoned with offensively.”
For the day, the Tigers had five players bat over .500, including Lynam and Danos. Camille Harris went 3-for-4 with a triple, an RBI and three runs scored. Alicia Owen posted a 4-for-6 day with two doubles, five RBIs and three runs scored. LaDonia Hughes finished 4-for-7 with two RBIs and a team-best five runs scored.
LSU jumped all over Jackson State in the top of the first inning. Hughes led off with a bunt single. She scored on a double to left center by Lynam.
After a walk to Blair Smith, Owen singled up the middle and advanced to second as Lynam scored and Smith moved to third.
Smith scored and Owen advanced to third on a wild pitch to run the score to 3-0. Danos then doubled in Owen. After a walk to Lauren Delahoussaye, Megann Steege singled to right center, scoring Danos from second to run the Tiger lead to 5-0.
LSU added a run in the second as Sara Fitzgerald led off with a double to centerfield. She advanced to third on a fly out by Lynam before scoring on an infield single by Smith.
The Tigers added four more runs in the top of the third inning. Harris led off with an infield single. Hughes then reached on a fielder’s choice as Harris advanced on an error by the shortstop.
Fitzgerald walked to load the bases before Lynam singled through the left side to score Harris and Hughes. Fitzgerald then scored on a groundout by Smith as Lynam advanced to third. A Danos single through the left side scored Lynam to run the score to 10-0.
LSU erupted for eight runs in the fourth inning. Harris led off with a single up the middle. Hughes followed with another single up the middle.
Harris and Hughes advanced to second and third on a foul out by Fitzgerald and scored on a double by Lynam.
Smith was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Owen then doubled in Lynam and Smith and scored on a throwing error by the catcher.
Danos then reached on an infield single. She scored on the first career hit by Delahoussaye, who advanced to second on the throw. After a fly out by Stephanie Hill, Harris tripled to right centerfield, scoring Delahoussaye. A Hughes single scored Harris to complete the rally and run the Tiger lead to 18-0.
LSU added a final run in the top of the fifth inning. Lynam led off with a double to right centerfield. She advanced to third on a fly out by Smith and scored on a ground out by Owen to give LSU the final 19-0 advantage.
Fitzgerald hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and Schmidt scattered two hits as the Tigers defeated Houston earlier in the day.
Schmidt picked up her second complete-game shutout of the season and the 10th of her career. She allowed just two hits and struck out nine.
Crystal Briscoe got the loss for Houston, falling to 2-3 on the year. She allowed four runs on three hits with three walks and one strikeout in two innings. Jenny Johnson came on in relief in the third and did not allow a hit in four innings of work with one strikeout.
After a leadoff walk to Hughes in the first, Fitzgerald nailed her third home run of the season down the left field line to give LSU the early 2-0 lead.
The Tigers added a pair in the bottom of the second. Owen led off with a double. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to left field by Hughes. Hughes then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Fitzgerald walked, Hughes scored on a delayed double steal.
After allowing an infield single in the top of the first, Schmidt did not allow another base runner until the top of the sixth when Lindsay Dunham doubled down the left field line for the only other Cougar base runner of the game.
HOUSTON 1, SOUTHERN MISS 0
BATON ROUGE — A dropped fly ball in the bottom of the seventh broke a scoreless tie and allowed the Houston Cougars to take the 1-0 win over Southern Miss in the first game of the Purple & Gold Challenge on Friday afternoon at Tiger Park.
Houston improved to 7-8 on the season, while the Lady Eagles dropped their fourth straight and fell to 5-7.
Jamie Falco got the complete game shutout, improving to 4-3 on the year. She allowed three hits with one walk while striking out three. Despite allowing only three hits, Holoway earned the loss to fall to 3-4. She gave up one unearned run with four walks and seven strikeouts.
Southern Miss had a runner in scoring position in both the first, second and fourth innings. The Lady Eagles put a runner on third in both the second and the fourth, but could not push the run across. After the fourth, Southern Miss went down in order.
Houston also put a runner in scoring position in the second and fourth, advancing a runner to third in the fourth, but could not score. With the game still scoreless, the Cougars finally plated the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
With two outs, and Brook Johnson on first, Holoway hit Jaci Gonzales to put runners on first and second. On a fly ball by Kim Nesloney, Lady Eagle centerfielder Kim Bishop dropped the ball, allowing Johnson to score the winning run from second.
LSU 4, HOUSTON 0
BATON ROUGE — Sara Fitzgerald hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and Kristin Schmidt scattered two hits as the eighth-ranked Tigers defeated Houston, 4-0, in the second game of the Purple & Gold Challenge on Friday afternoon at Tiger Park.
The Tigers improved to 12-4 on the season, while Houston fell to 7-9 on the season and 1-1 in the tournament.
Schmidt picked up her second complete-game shutout of the season and the 10th of her career. She allowed just two hits and struck out nine.
Crystal Briscoe got the loss for Houston, falling to 2-3 on the year. She allowed four runs on three hits with three walks and one strikeout in two innings. Jenny Johnson came on in relief in the third and did not allow a hit in four innings of work with one strikeout.
After a leadoff walk to LaDonia Hughes in the first, Sara Fitzgerald nailed her third home run of the season down the left field line to give LSU the early 2-0 lead.
The Tigers added a pair in the bottom of the second. Alicia Owen led off with a double. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a single to left field by Hughes. Hughes then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Fitzgerald walked, Hughes scored on a delayed double steal.
After allowing an infield single in the top of the first, Schmidt did not allow another base runner until the top of the sixth when Lindsay Dunrham doubled down the left field line for the only other Cougar base runner of the game.
SOUTHERN MISS 8, JACKSON STATE 0
BATON ROUGE — Auriel Jenkins and Sarah Boyd led the Southern Miss Lady Eagles to an 8-0 shutout of Jackson State in the third game of the Purple and Gold Challenge on Friday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the win the Lady Eagles snapped their four-game losing streak, improved to 6-7 on the season and 1-1 in the tournament. Jackson State dropped to 3-10 on the season.
Danielle Hatfield got the complete-game shutout for Southern Miss for her first decision of the season. She allowed two hits with seven strikeouts.
Valea Crowder earned the loss for Jackson State, allowing three runs, two of which were earned, on two hits, in a third of an inning. Heather Shove came on in relief in the first. She pitched five complete innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on four hits with a strikeout.
Southern Miss struck early with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Auriel Jenkins led off with a single through the left side. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a wild pitch.
Sarah Boyd then reached on an error by the first baseman before Amanda Brown homered to left centerfield to give the Lady Eagles the 3-0 lead.
Southern Miss added a run in the second inning. With two outs, Jenkins hit her first run of the season down the left field line to extend the lead to 4-0.
The Lady Eagles tacked on another in the third and one in the fourth. Boyd led off the third with a single. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on an infield groundout by Brown. Boyd then scored on a wild pitch. Erica King led off the fourth by reaching on an error. She scored on an RBI double by Laura Smith.
Boyd streached the lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning. She led off with a solo home run to right centerfield, her first of the season.
Southern Miss ended the game in the bottom of the sixth. King led off the inning, reaching second on an error. She advanced to third on an infield groundout and scored on a fielder’s choice to give the Lady Eagles the 8-0 win by the eight-run rule.