BATON ROUGE — A three-run home run by Julie Wiese capped a four-run fourth inning as the 11th-ranked LSU softball team completed the three-game Southeastern Conference sweep of Ole Miss, 6-3, on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 38-11 overall and 14-6 in the SEC. LSU is now riding a 12-game winning streak and has clinched a position in the conference tournament in May. Ole Miss dropped to 17-20 overall and 6-18 in league play.
With the Tigers trailing 2-1 in the fourth, Wiese nailed a three-run homer down the left field line to give LSU the 4-2 advantage. Wiese completed the week hitting .529 (9-for-17) with three doubles and four home runs for a 1.412 slugging percentage. In addition, the junior third baseman from Baton Rouge recorded in eight RBIs and scored eight runs in five games.
“Julie Wiese has got to be seeing the ball like a beach ball right now,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We have a lot of confidence right now. We are hitting the ball with a lot of power. We’ve got some kids that are very capable of swinging the bat and producing some big numbers for us.”
Kristin Schmidt got the complete-game win to improve to 23-9 overall. She allowed three runs on six hits with nine strikeouts.
“I can’t say enough about Kristin Schmidt,” Girouard said of her pitcher who went 3-0 on the week. “She is the epitome of a warrior. She has a finger that has a hole in it and she threw that many pitches last night and came back today. She was kind of off today, but still a remarkably good pitcher to win when she doesn’t have all of her stuff. She can look a little rough and then settle down and that is the mark of a good pitcher. It always helps when her team is scores runs.”
Dana Brill took the loss to drop to 3-10 on the season. She allowed three runs on one hits with two walks and two strikeouts in three and a third innings. Lindsay Price threw two and two-thirds innings in relief. She allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Ole Miss got on the board early in the game. Britte Hardy led off with a single to center field. With one out, DeDe Justice drove a home run to left field, her first hit of the series for the 2-0 Rebel lead.
Ole Miss threatened again in the top of the third. Jenny Cox led off with a bunt single. Hardy then singled to left field and Cox advanced to second.
With one out, the Rebels loaded the bases on an error by Blair Smith at shortstop. Kristin Schmidt then got back-to-back pop outs to end the inning with the bases loaded.
LSU stormed back to take the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Blair Smith walked and Camille Harris was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. A single up the middle by Sara Fitzgerald scored Smith from second. Wiese then nailed a three-run home run down the left field line. The homer was the eighth of the season for Wiese and the second of the series.
The Tigers extended the lead to 6-2 in the fifth inning on a two-run home run by Lynam. With two outs, Ole Miss walked Wiese before Lynam drove a 1-1 pitch into the scoreboard in left centerfield.
The Rebels cut the lead to 6-3 in the top of the sixth inning. Justice led off the inning with her second home run of the game, a solo shot to left field.
The Tigers return to action with their final SEC home series of the season on Tuesday against Arkansas. LSU will face the Lady’Backs in a doubleheader beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Tiger Park.