BATON ROUGE — The 13th-ranked LSU softball team tied or broke 11 school records in a 20-3 five-inning win over Alcorn State and a 10-0 five-inning win over Texas-San Antonio on Friday at Tiger Park in the first day of action in the Purple & Gold Challenge.
With the pair of wins, the Tigers moved to 8-3 on the season and 2-0 in the tournament. Alcorn State dropped to 2-2 after Friday’s action and 0-2 in the tournament, while Texas-San Antonio moved to 6-3 on the season and 0-2 in tournament play.
Against the Lady Braves, LSU broke 10 school records including the team single-game records for runs with 20 and RBIs with 19. The Tigers also tied the single-game records for hits at 21, triples with three and sacrifice flies with two.
Senior LaDonia Hughes tied the single-game records for runs, hits and stolen bases, while freshman Leslie Klein broke the school record for RBIs and tied the single-game record for triples.
Included in the offensive onslaught, Hughes went 4-for-4 with four runs scored with three stolen bases and one RBI. Klein went 3-for-4 with two triples, a home run, three runs scored and seven RBIs. Lauren Delahoussaye went 3-for03 with two doubles, three runs scored and an RBI.
“We did a lot of good things, but as a coach, you want them to finish the game,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We didn’t quite do that. We had a couple of lapses in concentration and that is something you definitely do not want to see. It’s one of those games that you need to get over with and get to the next one.”
The Tigers got five runs in the top of the first inning, added eight in the second and seven in the third to take the 20-0 lead. In the bottom of the third inning Alcorn State broke up the perfect game by Lauren Castle and scored three runs to cut the LSU lead to 20-3. There would be no more scoring after the third inning, as the Tigers would take the easy win.
Castle earned the win for the LSU in her first appearance of the season. She allowed three runs, two earned, on one hit with two walks and four strikeouts in three innings. Emily Turner came on in relief in the fourth inning. She did not allow a hit in two innings with a walk and six strikeouts.
Cami Banks took the complete-game loss for the Lady Braves to fall to 1-1 on the year. She allowed 20 runs on 21 hits with six walks and no strikeouts.
In the nightcap against Texas-San Antonio, the Tigers once again saw an offensive explosion as LSU recorded double-figure runs for the fifth time this season. The Tigers scored 10 runs on 11 hits in the contest, including a pair of home runs by Julie Wiese.
In two at-bats, Wiese went 2-for-2 with two home runs, two runs scored and six RBIs. The two home runs tied the LSU record for round trippers in a game and she also had the second-most single-game RBIs in school history.
Additionally, Klein went 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBIs.
“Last year I thought we were going to be a great hitting team, but we ended up being a great pitching and fielding team,” said Girouard. “This year it is just the opposite. We are swinging the bat with a lot of confidence right now. That is what hitting is all about, feeling comfortable and confident and I believe we are feeling all of those things right now.”
The Tigers once again jumped on the board early in the game. LSU scored six in the first, added three in the second and one in the third.
The Roadrunners only scoring threat came in the first inning as UTSA moved a pair of runner into scoring position before Kristin Schmidt ended the inning with a strikeout. The Roadrunners would have just one more baserunner the remainder but no other player would move past first the remainder of the game. Schmidt earned the complete-game shutout win for the Tigers to improve to 4-2 on the season. She allowed three hits with a walk and seven strikeouts.
Stevi Simpson took the loss for Texas-San Antonio to drop to 2-2 on the year. She allowed six runs on five hits with a walk without recording an out in the first inning. All six batters she faced scored later in the inning.
Hope Ortiz came on in relief in the first and pitched two innings. She allowed three runs on four hits with two walks. Ursula Mares closed out the game for the Roadrunners. She allowed one run on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts in two innings.
The Tigers will now take on Southern Miss at 2 p.m. and Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Lady Eagles went 1-1 on Friday with a 3-2 win over Texas-San Antonio and a 4-0 loss to Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters defeated Southern Miss, 4-0, and Alcorn State, 8-0 in six innings, to post a 2-0 record on Friday.
In other action in the Purple & Gold Challenge on Saturday, Southern Miss will take on Alcorn State to open play at 9 a.m., followed by Texas-San Antonio against Louisiana Tech at 11:30 a.m. Alcorn State will also take on Texas-San Antonio at 4:30 p.m.
The tournament will conclude with bracket play on Sunday as the top four teams advance. The No. 2 seed will take on the No. 3 seed at 9 a.m., followed by the top seed against the fourth seed at 11:30 a.m. The winners of those two games will then play for the tournament championship at 2 p.m.
LSU 587 00 – 20 21 1
Alcorn State 003 00 – 3 1 3
Castle, Turner (4) and Hobbs, Danos. Banks and Adversalo. W – Castle (1-0). L – Banks (1-1). HR – Klein, Hill. T – 1:39.
UTSA 000 00 – 0 3 0
LSU 631 0x – 10 11 0
Simpson, Ortiz (1), Mares (3) and Els. Schmidt and Hobbs. W – Schmidt (4-2). L – Simpson (2-2). HR – Klein, Wiese 2. T – 1:36. Simpson faced six batters in the first.
Game 1 – Southern Miss 3, Texas-San Antonio 2
With three runs in the top of the fifth inning, Southern Miss came back from a 1-0 deficit to take the 3-2 win over Texas-San Antonio in the first game of the Purple & Gold Challenge on Friday morning.
With the win, the Lady Eagles improved to 3-4 on the season and 1-0 in the tournament, while the Roadrunners dropped to 6-4 on the year and 0-1 in the tournament.
Danielle Hatfield got the complete-game win for Southern Miss to improve to 3-0 on the year. She allowed two runs on eight hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Ursula Mares took the complete-game loss to fall to 4-3 on the season. She allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits with four walks and 10 strikeouts.
The Roadrunners struck first with one run in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, Catherine Garza knocked a solo home run to left field to give UTSA the 1-0 lead.
Southern Miss responded with three runs to take the lead in the top of the fifth. After a leadoff walk to Danielle Wymer, she advanced to second on a passed ball. With two outs, Heather Bell singled to left field and Wymer moved to third. Ashely Brenan then singled to right, scoring Wymer. As Bell went to third on the play, the ball got away from the third baseman on the throw and she scored, as Brenan advanced to third. She then scored on an errant throw by the catcher on a throw down to third to give the Lady Eagles the 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, Texas-San Antonio cut into the Southern Miss lead. Jenny Garcia led off with a single up the middle. She advanced to second on a wild pitch. On a fly out to right field, she advanced to third. On a single through the left side by Krystal Guevara, Garcia scored. Jessica Rogers then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
Southern Miss 000 030 0 – 3 5 1
UTSA 010 000 1 – 2 8 2
Hatfield and Logan. Mares and Els. W – Hatfield (3-0). L – Mares (4-3). HR – Garza. T – 2:13.
Game 3 – Louisiana Tech 4, Southern Miss 0
Four runs in the top of the fifth gave Louisiana Tech the 4-0 win over Southern Miss in the third game of the Purple & Gold Classic on Friday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Lady Techsters improved to 6-5 on the season and 1-0 on the tournament. The Lady Eagles dropped to 3-5 on the year and 1-1 in the tournament.
Marla Pinkson earned the complete-game shutout victory for Louisiana Tech to improve to 4-4 on the year. She allowed four hits and three walks while striking out two.
Jessica Saunier took the loss for Southern Miss. She allowed four runs on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings. Jessica Holaway came on in relief in the fifth inning and did not allow a hit with two strikeouts in two and a third innings.
With one out in the top of the fifth inning, Erin Chernicky singled to left center field. A triple by Brittany Stanley to right center scored Chernicky. Amber Miles then doubled to right center to score Stanley and give the Lady Techsters the 2-0 lead. Casey Reiff then homered to center field to put Louisiana Tech ahead 4-0.
Southern Miss had runners in scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings, but could not push a run across as Jessica Huerta struck out to end the game.
Louisiana Tech 000 040 0 – 4 8 1
Southern Miss 000 000 0 – 0 4 0
Pinkston and Chernicky. Saunier, Holaway (5) and Logan. W – Pinkston (4-4). L – Saunier (0-2). HR – Reiff. T – 1:36.
Game 5 – Louisiana Tech 8, Alcorn State 0
Louisiana Tech used two errors in the bottom of the sixth to put the final run across in an 8-0 run-rule win over Alcorn State in the final game of the first day of the Purple & Gold Challenge on Friday.
With the win the Lady Techsters improved to 7-5 on the season and 2-0 in the tournament. Alcorn State dropped to 2-2 on the year and 0-2 in the tournament.
Sabra Warner earned the win for Louisiana Tech. She allowed just one hit and a walk with one strikeout in three and a third innings. Kristin Rupp came on in relief in the fourth inning. She allowed one hit and one walk with a strikeout in an inning and two-thirds.
Cami Banks took the loss for the Lady Braves to fall to 1-2 on the year. She allowed eight runs, seven earned, on nine hits with eight walks in four innings.
Louisiana Tech opened up with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Amber Miles led of with a bunt single and advanced to second. On a bunt single by Brittany Stanley, she moved to third as Stanley went to second.
With one out, Casey Reiff walked to load the bases. An infield ground out by Bridget Broadnax scored Miels from third before a double by Jessica Elson brought home Stanley and Reiff for the 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third the Lady Techsters added three more. Broadnax led off with a walk. She scored on a double by Elson. With one out, White singled to center field to score Elson from second. A single and a walk then loaded the bases before Stanley recorded an infield ground out to score White from third for the 6-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth, Echols homered to left center with two outs to extend the lead to 7-0.
The game ended in the bottom of the sixth inning. Miles led off with an infield single. She advanced to second and Stanley reached on an error by the first baseman. After a walk loaded the bases, the winning run scored on an error by the third baseman for the 8-0 win.
Alcorn State 000 00 – 0 2 2
Louisiana Tech 303 11 – 8 9 1
Banks and Adversalo. Warner, Rupp (4) and Aycock. W – Warner (2-0). L – Banks (1-1). HR – Echols. T – 1:18.