BATON ROUGE — A no-hitter by Kristin Schmidt and a 5-for-7 performance at the plate by LaDonia Hughes led the 11tth-ranked LSU softball team to a doubleheader sweep of Centenary, 4-0 and 2-0, at Tiger Park on Wednesday night.
With the pair of shutout victories, the Tigers improved to 29-11 overall. The Ladies were shutout for the fifth-straight game to fall to 17-20 on the season.
“Two wins, we’ll take them,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “This is a much better Centenary team and they made a lot of good plays when they needed to make them. We are glad to see Tessa throw a little better here. LaDonia certainly needed some on-base occurrences. She looked much, much better tonight. I saw some things out there that made me happy.
Schmidt recorded her third complete-game no-hitter and fourth no-no of the season in the first game of the doubleheader. Improving to 17-9 on the season, she was one hit batter from the third perfect game in LSU history. The no-hitter was the 23rd in Tiger softball history and the fifth of the season for LSU.
Schmidt also recorded 13 strikeouts against the Ladies, her fourth double-figure strikeout performance of the season. With her 16th career shutout, she moved into a tie with Brandy Landry for third place in career shutout in school history.
In the second game, she came on in relief in the top of the seventh with one out and the tying run on second. She proceeded to record back-to-back strikeouts to end the game, earning her third save of the season.
“Kristin is throwing much, much better,” said Girouard. “She is quickly getting back to herself.”
Hughes tied the school single-game record with a 4-for-4 performance in the first game and came back to go 1-for-3 in game two. She also scored three of the Tigers’ six runs on the day.
“LaDonia has got to get on base; that is why she is here,” said Girouard. “She creates havoc. She gets on base and we score.”
The Tigers jumped on the board early with three runs in the first. Sara Fitzgerald walked to lead off the inning. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, she advanced to third on a bunt base hit by Hughes and scored as the Lady shortstop. Hughes also moved to third on the play.
With two outs, Julie Wises singled to left field, scoring Hughes from third. After a walk to Alicia Owen, Wiese scored on a single up the middle by Lauren Delahoussaye.
After leaving the bases loaded in the third and runners on second and third in the fourth, the Tigers added their final run in the sixth. With one out, Hughes hit her fourth single of the game, tying the LSU single-game record, and advanced to second on an error by the Centenary catcher. With two outs, Christy Connor singled through the left side, scoring Hughes from second for the 4-0 final.
Cheyenne Daries took the loss for Centenary, falling to 7-9 on the season. She allowed four runs, three earned, on nine hits with five walks and seven strikeouts.
In the second game, the Tigers broke the scoreless tie in the third. Blair Smith singled down the left field line to lead off the inning. With one out, Camille Harris singled to left field and advanced to second on an error by the left fielder as Smith moved to third. Smith then scored on a sacrifice fly by Fitzgerald.
LSU added a second run in the bottom of the sixth. With one out Hughes singled up the middle. After stealing second, she scored on an RBI double down the right field line by Owen for the 2-0 Tiger lead.
Natalie Schoppe led off with single up the middle to start the seventh inning for Centenary. With one out, Janis Kelly doubled down the left field line to put runners at second and third. Schmidt came on in relief of Tessa Lynam in the circle for the Tigers. She then struck out Jordan Lansdale and Lauren Jackson to end the game.
Lynam got the win for LSU to improve to 12-2 on the season. In her fourth shutout of the season, she allowed five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
“Tessa threw pretty well,” said Girouard. “She has good pitches. She just has to make a better effort of throwing more good pitches in a game.”
Cathleen Byrne recorded the loss for the Ladies to drop to 6-9 on the year. She allowed one unearned run on three hits in four innings. Janis Kelley relieved her in the fifth inning, allowing one run on two hits with two strikeouts.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday against McNeese State. LSU will face the Cowgirls in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The game is a makeup for the Feb. 26 contest that was cancelled due to rain.