BATON ROUGE — The seventh-ranked LSU softball team split a pair of games against Tennessee, winning the first game 4-0 before falling 3-2 in the second game, to open Southeastern Conference play on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Park.
The three-game series will conclude with a single game on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. The game will be televised locally on Cox Sports Television, Baton Rouge cable channel 38. It will also be the first LSU Sports Network radio broadcast of the season and can be heard on WJHN, Jam’n 107.3 in Baton Rouge.
LSU now moves to 17-6 overall and 1-1 in SEC play, while Tennessee moves to 17-7 overall and 1-1 in SEC play. The Tigers remain undefeated in SEC openers, extending their streak to seven straight seasons.
For the day, both Alicia Owen and Christy Connor went 3-for-5 at the plate with an RBI. Tessa Lynam went 2-for-7 at the plate with three RBIs. Jennie Reeves also recorded multiple hits, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
After leaving six on base in the first game, the Tigers stranded eight on base in the second game. Four of the runners LSU stranded on base were in scoring position. The Tigers could not come up with the timely hit they needed push the runners across the plate.
“We talk about this all the time, getting the key hit in the key situation,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We left way too many people on base today in situations that I think we could have caused some damage. Camille hits the ball as hard as you can hit it in the sixth inning and the shortstop makes a great play.
“When we get beat, it will be because we don’t get a clutch hit in a key situation. Now we’ve got to come out with fire in our eyes. We’ve got to come out and win the series tomorrow.”
In the first game, Kristin Schmidt threw her fifth complete-game shutout of the season and the 13th of her LSU career. She earned the win while scattering two hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.
In the second game, she came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth and allowed a solo home run in the top of the seventh that proved to be the game winner for Tennessee, giving her the loss. She allowed just that one hit with one strikeout in two innings of work. For the day, she went 1-1 to move her to 9-5 on the season. Lynam started the second game and went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits with one walk and one strikeout.
“Tennessee has always been a pretty good hitting team,” said Girouard. “They came in here with a .300 plus batting average and Kristin kind of shut them down in the first game. I don’t even know if you can call it a mistake in the second game because the girl hit the ball off the ground almost. Sometimes you have to credit the hitter.”
In the first game, LSU capitalized on three Lady Vol errors to jump out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. After a leadoff walk to Jennie Reeves, she advanced to second on a fielding error by the shortstop, allowing LaDonia Hughes to reach first. An error by the third baseman on a Sara Fitzgerald hit loaded the bases for the Tigers.
Tessa Lynam then singled to centerfield to score Reeves and Hughes. After a groundout by Julie Wiese moved Hughes and Lynam to second and third, a catcher’s interference call put Christy Connor on first to the bases again for LSU. A single up the middle by Alicia Owen scored Fitzgerald from third to put the Tigers ahead 3-0.
LSU added one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning. After a leadoff single by Owen, Camille Harris came in to pinch run for her. A sacrifice bunt moved Harris to second before Leigh Ann Danos single to put Harris on third. Jennie Reeves doubled to left field to score Harris for the final run of the game.
In the second game, Tennessee took the early lead in the top of the third inning. Christy Anch singled to right centerfield to lead off the inning.
After a sacrifice bunt moved her to second, a single down the right field line by Katherine Card scored Anch from second for the Lady Vol’s first run of the day.
Tennessee added a run in the top of the fourth on a one-out home run to left field by Lauren Mattox.
LSU came back to cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Fitzgerald led off with a single through the left side. With two outs, Connor singled to left field, moving Fitzgerald to second. Fitzgerald then scored on an error by the shortstop.
The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Reeves led off with an infield single. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. A groundout by Hughes put her on third. Fitzgerald was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners before Lynam singled to score Reeves from third.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Owen singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by the shortstop with one out. A single by Danos, pinch-hitting for Blair Smith, put runners on the corners. Smith, who reentered the game at first, then moved to second on an infield groundout by Reeves. With two outs, Harris nailed the ball at Lady Vol shortstop Ellisha Humphrey, who made a great play to get Harris at first and prevent LSU from taking the lead.
Tennessee then retook the lead in the top of the seventh on a leadoff home run by Blaine Teasley, giving the Lady Vols the 3-2 lead.
LSU had a runner on first with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, but could not push the tying run across, as Tennessee centerfielder Sarah Fekete made a diving catch on a Julie Wiese hit to end the game.
Stacey Jennings got the loss for the Lady Vols in the first game and the win in the second game to move to 10-5 on the season. In the first game she went five innings, allowing four runs, two of which were earned, on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts. In the second game, she came on in relief to throw an inning and a third, allowing two hits with a walk and a strikeout.
Christy Anch started the second game for Tennessee and also picked up the save. She allowed one unearned run on three hits in four and a third inning with three strikeouts. Stephanie Humphrey came on in relief in the first game to pitch one inning and allowed one hit. She also threw an inning in the second game, allowing one run on two hits with a strikeout.