BATON ROUGE — The No. 11-ranked LSU softball team’s 13-game winning streak ended with a doubleheader split with Southeastern Conference rival Arkansas on Tuesday night at Tiger Park as the Tigers won the first game 10-1 in five innings before falling 6-5 in the nightcap.
With the split LSU moved to 39-12 overall and 15-7 in league play. Arkansas moved to 23-31 on the year and 7-19 in conference action.
“We run-ruled them in the first game and had opportunities early to put the second game away,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We had the bases loaded and a big hit there and basically the doubleheader is over with. They hit the ball and we didn’t get any pitching in the second game. We didn’t make the plays in the field when we needed to and left to many people on base.”
With the game scoreless heading into the bottom of the second inning of series opener, rain delayed the game for over an hour. After play resumed, the Tigers took a 2-0 advantage. With one out, Alicia Owen doubled down the left field line. After Leigh Ann Danos walked, Camille Harris tripled down the left field line to score Owen and Danos for the early lead.
Arkansas got on the board in the top of the third. Pitcher Heather Schlichtman hit a solo home run to left field to lead off the inning.
LSU broke the game open in the bottom of the fourth with eight runs. With one out, Owen drew a walk. Danos then singled up the middle. A single to right centerfield by Blair Smith scored Owen before Harris singled down the left field line to score Danos for the 4-1 lead.
A triple by Sara Fitzgerald cleared the bases, scoring Harris and Smith.
Back-to-back home runs by Tessa Lynam and Christy Connor gave the Tigers the 10-1. Including a first inning triple by Hughes, LSU recorded three triples in the game, breaking the team single-game record.
Schmidt improved to 24-9 on the season with the complete-game victory. She allowed one run on three hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts. She moved into second place on the Tiger’s all-time strikeout list.
Schlichtman took the loss for the Lady’Backs. She started and threw three and a third innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Valanna allowed three runs on four hits with a walk and a strikeout in two-thirds innings of relief.
In the second game, Arkansas came out and threatened early. In the top of the third inning, Candice Swan hit a one-out double off the left field wall.
She advanced to third on a passed ball. On a fielder’s choice to shortstop, Smith looked Swan back to third before throwing to first. The throw was not in time to get Blaire Woodward, but on the throw, Swan attempted to score and was thrown out at home by Connor.
LSU got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. After back-to-back walks to Smith and Harris, the pair advanced to second and third on an error by the catcher on a throwback to the pitcher. With one out, both scored on a single through the right side by LaDonia Hughes for the 2-0 LSU lead.
Back-to-back walks to Julie Wise and Lynam loaded the bases, but a shallow fly to left field by Connor could not score Hughes from third for the second out. Owen then struck out swinging to end the inning with the bases loaded.
Arkansas cut the Tiger lead in half in the top of the fourth inning. Barbara Southmayd reached on an error by Smith at shortstop to lead off the inning.
She advanced to second on a wild pitch. With one out, she moved to third on an infield groundout. An infield single by Schlichtman scored Southmayd from third to cut the lead to 2-1 LSU.
The Tigers got the run back in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Harris homered off “The Advocate” sign on the left field foul pole.
Arkansas came back to tie the game in the top of the fifth. With one out, Woodward singled up the middle. With two outs, Julie Young hit a bloop single over third base to put runners on first and second. Southmayd then doubled to right field, scoring Woodward and Young for the 3-3 score.
In the top of sixth, the Lady’Backs took the lead with three unearned runs.
With one out, Schlichtman was hit by a pitch. Megan O’Malley then doubled down the left field line to put runners on second and third. With two outs, Smith threw the ball away on an infield hit by Woodward. She came around to score on a single by Young for the 6-3 Arkansas advantage.
Hughes led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk for the Tigers.
Woodward came on to pitch for the Lady’Backs. With one out, Lynam doubled to left centerfield, scoring Hughes from first to cut the Arkansas lead to 6-4. Connor then singled to centerfield to put runners on the corners.
Schlichtman reentered the game for the third time in the game after official protest by LSU. The pitcher had been pinch run for in the second inning.
Owen then fouled out to the third baseman for the second out. An error by the Arkansas shortstop allowed Danos to reach and Lynam to score. Lauren Delahoussaye then nailed a shot to left centerfield that was run down by the left fielder for the final out of the game.
Schmidt took the loss in the second game in relief to drop to 24-10. She came on in the sixth inning and allowed three unearned runs on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Lynam threw five innings to start the game. She allowed three runs, two earned, on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts.
The series will conclude with a single game on Wednesday beginning at 1 p.m. at Tiger Park. Following the game, members of the media, student-athletes and athletic department personnel will participate in the PowerAde Home Run Derby.