BATON ROUGE — The 11th-ranked LSU softball team took the three-game Southeastern Conference series against Arkansas with an 8-0 five-inning victory on Wednesday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the win the Tigers improved to 40-12 on the season and 16-7 in league play. Arkansas dropped to 23-32 overall and 7-20 in conference action.
“It just goes to show you that when we are focused and in tuned with what we are doing, we can pretty good offensively,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “It makes that loss last night a little more devastating but you have to let it go. We hit really well today and Kristin did a great job.”
The Tigers jumped on the board with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, LaDonia Hughes was hit by a pitch and then stole second. With two outs, Christy Connor singled to right field, scoring Hughes from second. Julie Wiese then nailed a home run off “The Advocate” sign on the left field line foul pole for the 3-0 LSU advantage.
Arkansas threatened in the top of the second inning. With one out, Barbara Southmayd drew a walk. Lauren Hendrix then singled to left field before Stephanie Hunter singled through the right side to load the bases. Kristin Schmidt then got Heather Schlichtman to strike out before Ruth Atkins fouled out to Leigh Ann Danos to end the inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, the Tigers got one more. With two outs, Hughes beat out a hit to the shortstop. After stealing second, she scored on a single up the middle by Tessa Lynam.
LSU tacked on two more in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Lynam hit a little bloop single over the third baseman’s head. She advanced to second on an illegal pitch and scored on a double to left centerfield by Connor. A double to right centerfield by Wiese then scored Connor for the 6-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Owen led off with a walk. Back-to-back doubles by Blair Smith and Camille Harris scored Owen and Smith and gave the Tigers the 8-0 run-rule win.
Schmidt recorded her 11th complete-game shutout to improve to 25-10 on the season. She allowed four hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
“Kristin rebounded well,” said Girouard. “I think she was on the edge last night. She got herself out of jams, which is why she is a very good pitcher, but she looked a little but sharper today.”
Schlichtman started and took the loss for Arkansas. She allowed three runs on three hits with a strikeout in two-thirds of an inning. Blaire Woodward came on in relief to allow five runs on eight hits with three walks and two strikeouts in three and a third innings.
LSU returns to action on Saturday at Auburn with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. The three-game SEC series will conclude with a single game on Sunday at noon.