PLANT CITY, Fla. — Christy Connor nailed a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning as the 12th-ranked LSU softball team defeated No. 20 South Carolina, 5-1, on Saturday afternoon at Plant City Stadium to remain alive in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
With the win the Tigers improve to 47-15 on the season and will take on No. 24 Florida Saturday night at 7 p.m. CT. The Gamecocks dropped to 38-18 and were eliminated from the tournament.
“I don’t think we were quite ready to go home today,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We just have to leave it all on the field because you never know when you next game is going to be your last game.”
After South Carolina took the 1-0 lead in the second, LSU rallied to tie the game in the home half of the inning. An RBI single by Sara Fitzgerald in the third inning gave the Tigers the 2-1 lead before Connor’s home run in the fifth capped LSU’s scoring efforts.
The defense shined for the Tigers as LSU tied the single-game record with three double plays, including two off of line drives caught by Julie Wiese.
LaDonia Hughes made a catch before sailing into the wall to end the third and Megann Steege made a diving grab to end the fourth.
“Our outfield has played phenomenal all year,” said Girouard. “They have made some highlight catches. Ms. Hughes got robbed of one when we were at South Carolina that I think would have been an ESPN highlight. Our outfield has really played superb all year long.”
Tessa Lynam went the distance for the Tigers to improve to 16-3 overall.
She allowed one run on five hits with three walks and four strikeouts. The sophomore from Alpharetta, Ga., also went 1-for-3 from the plate to help her cause.
“We got out of a little jam in the first inning,” said Girouard. “They hit the ball really hard at us sometimes, but we made some great defensive plays. I thought Tessa threw a really great game. I thought the defense played great. We got some big hits when we needed them. The ball was finally starting to fall a little bit.”
The Tigers got into some trouble early. Jodi Fittro was hit by a pitch to lead off the game. On a bunt single by Nancy Crane, Fittro advanced to second. Debralee Troesh then hit a slow ground ball to third base. Wiese fielded the ball and attempted to go to third on the play, but there was no one covering for LSU and everyone was safe all around.
With the bases loaded, Lynam got Danielle Quinones to strike out looking.
Wiese then snagged a hard line shot by Amber Curtis and doubled up Fittro coming off the bag at second to get out of the inning unscathed.
“Obviously it (the double play) was gigantic because they could have ripped the game wide open right there,” said Girouard. “Sometimes you hit the ball as hard as you can and the other team is standing in the way. That is what kind of happened to them a few times today. Our ball finally started to find some eyes and we made some things happen.”
The Gamecocks broke through with a run in the top of the second. After Ashley Smith led off with a walk, Samantha Jennings came on to pinch run. A sacrifice bunt by Meghan Cornett moved Jennings to second before a wild pitch advanced her to third. An RBI single through the left side by Melissa Sandel scored Jennings for the 1-0 South Carolina advantage.
Sandel advanced to third on a single to right field by Jodi Fittro to put runners on the corners with two outs. Crane then struck out looking to end the inning.
The Tigers got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Alicia Owen walked to lead off the inning. She advanced to second on a ground out by Lynam. On a fly out to right field by Wiese, Owen tagged and advanced to third. She scored when the throw from right field got away from Quinones at third base to knot the game at one.
LSU took the lead in the home half of the third inning. With two outs, Hughes drew a walk. After stealing second, she scored on an infield single by Fitzgerald to give the Tigers the 2-1 lead.
“We have kind of been in a stalemate scoring runs, so I would say that all bets are off here and we are off to the races,” Girouard said about sending Hughes from second on the play. “We’re not going to stop too many people at this point.”
Connor broke the game open in the home half of the fifth with a three-run home run. Steege reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. With one out, Fitzgerald singled to right field. Connor then nailed her team-best 10th home run of the season to centerfield, moving her into fourth place in single-season homers in LSU history.
Stacey Johnson took the loss for the Gamecocks to fall to 16-9 on the season. She went four and a third innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Aleca Johnson came on in relief in the fifth and threw an inning and two-thirds of perfect softball.
2003 Southeastern Conference Tournament
Plant City Stadium
Plant City, Fla.
May 7-11, 2003
Thursday, May 8
Game 1 — (3) LSU def. (6) Tennessee, 1-0 (9)
Game 2 — (2) Alabama def. (7) Auburn, 4-0
Game 3 — (5) Florida def. (4) South Carolina, 6-2
Game 4 — (1) Georgia def. (8) Mississippi State, 3-0
Friday, May 9
Game 5 — (6) Tennessee def. (7) Auburn, 4-3 (9) (Auburn eliminated)
Game 6 — (4) South Carolina def. (8) Mississippi State, 2-1(Mississippi State eliminated)
Game 7 — (2) Alabama def. (3) LSU, 3-1
Game 8 — (5) Florida def. (1) Georgia, 1-0
Saturday, May 10
Game 9 — (6) Tennessee def. (1) Georgia, 5-3 (8) (Georgia eliminated)
Game 10 — (3) LSU def. (4) South Carolina, 5-1 (South Carolina eliminated)
Game 11 — (2) Alabama def. (6) Tennessee, 3-2 (8)(Tennessee eliminated)
Game 12 — (3) LSU def. (5) Florida, 1-0
Sunday, May 11
Game 13 (if necessary) — N/A
Game 14 (5) Florida vs. (3) LSU, 9 a.m. (loser eliminated)
Game 15 – (2) Alabama vs. Winner of Game 14 (FOX SS) 12:30 p.m.