BATON ROUGE — Stephanie Hill led the 13th-ranked LSU softball team to a sweep in the second day of the Purple & Gold Challenge, as the Tigers defeated Southern Miss, 19-1 in five innings, and Louisiana Tech, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon in Tiger Park.
With the pair of wins, LSU improved to 10-3 on the season and swept through tournament pool play undefeated at 4-0. As the top seed, the Tigers will take on fourth-seeded Louisiana Tech at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday in bracket play.
The Lady Techsters dropped to 8-6 overall and completed pool play at 2-2. Southern Miss fell to 4-6 and also completed pool play at 2-2. The third-seeded Lady Eagles will take on second-seeded Texas-San Antonio at 9 a.m. on Sunday in bracket play.
The winners of the LSU-Louisiana Tech game will take on the winner of the UTSA-Southern Miss game at 2 p.m. for the Purple & Gold Challenge championship.
For the day, Hill went 4-for-6 with a double, three runs scored and five RBIs. Lauren Delahoussaye added a 2-for-5 performance with a double, a home run, two runs scored and three RBIs for the Tigers.
“I just believe that we have so much confidence right now,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard about her team’s attitude at the plate. “It’s all about that. They all feel good about it and they all want a part of it. It’s contagious. Hitting is contagious.”
In the first game LSU jumped all over Southern Miss. After the Lady Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, the Tigers responded with seven runs in the top of the second. Hill led off with a walk. After advancing to second on a wild pitch, Julie Wiese drew a walk and Hill moved to third on a second wild pitch.
With one out and runners on second and third, Leigh Ann Danos drew a walk to load the bases. Emily Turner then nailed a double down the right field line, scoring Hill and Wiese. With two outs, LaDonia Hughes singled and advanced to second on an error by the first baseman as both Turner and Danos scored.
Sarah Fitzgerald earned the fourth walk of the inning. Hughes and Fitzgerald moved to second and third on a wild pitch. Both scored on a single up the middle by Leslie Klein. In Hill’s second at-bat of the inning, she singled up the middle and advanced to second on an error by the centerfielder, allowing Klein to score from first to put the Tigers ahead 7-1.
The trouble only got worse for the lady Eagles in the top of the third innings as LSU added eight more runs. Delahoussaye led off the inningwith a home run to left center field. Danos then walked. With Lauren Uhle pinch running for Danos, she advanced to second as Turner reached on an error by the shortstop. Uhle and Turner moved to second and third on a wild pitch before Camille Harris walked to load the bases.
A single up the middle by Hughes scored Uhle and Turner. After an infield single by Klein, a double down the left field line by Hill scored Hughes and Harris. On a muffed throw by the first baseman, Wiese reached and Klein scored. Hill then scored on a sacrifice fly by Delahoussaye. A single up the middle by Danos scored Wiese to run the LSU lead to 15-1 after three innings.
The Tigers added a run in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Hill that scored Fitzgerald. LSU closed out the scoring in the fifth with a trio of runs. Delahoussaye led off with a double to right center. With one out, Turner singled down the left field line and Delahoussaye moved to third. A single through the left side by Castle scored Delahoussaye. Turner and Castle moved to second and third on an infield ground out before Fitzgerald drove in the final two runs on a single to right center.
“We’re hitting in prime-time situations,” Girouard said. “With runners in scoring position, we’re getting base hits and that’s something that we didn’t do last year. We’re also scoring a lot of runs with two outs.”
In addition to going 2-for 4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBIs, Turner earned the complete-game win for the Tigers to improve to 4-1 on the season. She allowed one run on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Danielle Wymer took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the year. She allowed nine runs, eight earned, on five hits with six walks in two innings. Danielle Hatfield came on in relief. She allowed 10 runs, six earned, on 10 hits with two walks and one strikeout in three innings.
In the nightcap, the Tigers took advantage of three runs in the first inning and strong pitching by Kristin Schmidt to defeat the Lady Techsters.
“Schmidt looked as good as she’s looked all season,” Girouard said. “I thought she looked like she was in total control. We really worked hard in the last two weeks and she looked like she was in full control tonight.”
Hughes led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk for LSU. A bunt single by Castle moved Hughes to second. With one out, Hill doubled to left field, scoring Hughes and Castle. Hill moved to third on a single through the left side by Wiese and scored on a sacrifice fly by Delahoussaye to take the 3-0 lead.
The Tigers had runners in scoring position in the second and the fifth innings, but could not push another run across the remainder of the game. Schmidt had a perfect game broken up in the top of the sixth inning as Mary Cohn singled to right field to lead off the inning. A single to right field by Brittany Stanley sent Ducey, pinch running for Cohn, to third. Schmidt got Casey Reiff to foul out to end the inning.
Schmidt earned the complete-game win for the Tigers to improve to 5-2 on the season. She allowed two hits and a walk, with a season-high 11 strikeouts.
Sabra Warner took the loss for the Lady Techsters to fall to 2-1 on the season. She allowed three runs on three hits with a walk in an inning. Marla Pinkston came on in relief in the second and allowed two hits and two walks with a strikeout in five innings.
“I’m a little disappointed,” Girouard said about the drop off in hitting following the first inning. “Give some credit to Marla (Pinkston). She came in and threw hard and threw well. We got the runs when we need them and then we played good defense after that.”
Next weekend, the Tigers travel to Columbus, Ga., for the NFCA Leadoff Classic. LSU will face some of the nation’s top softball competition as 14 of the top 25 teams in the nation and three teams receiving votes for the top 25 will participate in the tournament. The Tigers will face No. 2 California, in a rematch of a 5-1 loss to the Bears at the UNLV Softball Classic earlier this season, Florida Atlantic, which is receiving votes for the top 25, and Ohio State in pool play.
LSU 078 13 – 19 15 2
Southern Miss 100 00 – 1 7 5
Turner and Danos. Wymer, Hatfield (3) and Logan. W – Turner (4-1). L – Wymer (0-2). HR – Delahoussaye. T – 2:11.
Louisiana Tech 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
LSU 300 000 x – 3 5 0
Warner, Pinkston (2) and Echols. Schmidt and Hobbs. W – Schmidt (5-2). L – Warner (2-1). T – 1:32.
Game 6 – Southern Miss 5, Alcorn State 0
Four runs in the top of the second led Southern Miss to a 5-0 win over Alcorn State in the first game of Saturday’s action in the Purple & Gold Challenge at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Lady Eagles improved to 4-5 on the season and 2-1 in the tournament. The Lady Braves dropped to 2-3 on the season and 0-3 in tournament action.
Jessica Holaway earned the complete-game shutout victory for Southern Miss to improve to 1-2 on the season. She allowed two hits and a walk with 12 strikeouts.
Cami Banks took the loss to fall to 1-3 on the year. She allowed five runs on 10 hits with two walks in seven innings.
In the top of the second inning the Lady Eagles got on the board with four runs. With one out, Ashley Davis singled to left center field. Sue Logan then reached on a fielder’s choice as the play failed to get Davis at second. With two outs and runners at first and second, Heather Bell hit an RBI single and advanced to second on the throw as Charity Butler moved to second.
Ashley Brenan then hit a bases-clearing triple to left field that scored two. Jessica Huerta then scored Brenan from third on a single to left field to run the Southern Miss score to 4-0.
The Lady Eagles added a run in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Bell doubled down the left field line. A double by Brenan then scored Bell from second as Southern Miss ended the scoring at 5-0.
Southern Miss 040 001 0 – 5 10 0
Alcorn State 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
Holaway and Logan. Banks and Adversalo. W – Holaway (1-2). L – Banks (1-3). T – 1:25.
Game 7 – Louisiana Tech, Texas-San Antonio
Back-to-back home runs in the top of the sixth inning sealed the six-inning, 9-1, victory for Texas-San Antonio over Louisiana Tech in the second game on Saturday in the Purple & Gold Challenge at Tiger Park.
With the win the Roadrunners improved to 7-5 on the year and 2-1 in the tournament. The Lady Techsters fell to 7-6 overall and 2-1 in tournament play.
Texas-San Antonio jumped on the board with three runs in the top of the first. Krystal Gibson led off the game with a walk. She advanced to second on an error by the shortstop on a fielder’s choice by Jennifer Davis. After a walk to Jessica Rogers loaded the bases, Christy Brownlee singled to third base, scoring Gibson from third.
Jessica Els then singled up the middle to score Davis. Aimee Murray reached on a fielder’s choice as Els was thrown out at second. However, Rogers came home on the play to put the Roadrunners ahead 3-0.
Louisiana Tech got its lone run in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Casey Reiff walked. Bridget Broadnax then singled to center field to move Reiff to second. Ashley Cameron then reached on an error by the first baseman as Reiff moved to third and Broadnax went to second. A bases loaded walk to Jennifer LaRussa cut the UTSA lead to 3-1.
The Roadrunners came right back and scored two runs in the top of the fourth. With two outs and the bases loaded, Davis singled to right field to score Jenny Garcia and Stacey Gillespie.
In the top of the sixth, UTSA put the game away. Gillespie led off with a single through the left side. Garcia then doubled to left field as Gillespie moved to third. With one out, Davis singled to score both runs. Back-to-back solo home runs by Rogers and Brownlee gave the Roadrunners the eight-run-rule win.
Ursula Mares earned the complete-game win for UTSA to improve to 5-3 on the season. She allowed one runs on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
Marla Pinkston took the loss for Louisiana Tech to fall to 4-5 on the year. She allowed three runs, two earned, on two hits with three walks in two-thirds of an inning. Kristin Blodgette came on relief in the first and allowed two runs on three hits with four walks and a strikeout in three and a third innings. Kristin Rupp closed out the game for the Lady Techsters.
She allowed four runs on six hits with a walk in two innings.
UTSA 300 204 – 9 11 2
Louisiana Tech 001 000 – 1 3 2
Mares and Els. Pinkston, Blodgette (1), Rupp (5) and Chernicky. W – Mares (5-3). L – Pinkston (4-5). HR – Rogers, Brownlee. T – 2:05.
Game 9 – Texas-San Antonio 5, Alcorn State 0
Jessica Rogers recorded four RBIs in leading Texas-San Antonio to a 5-0 win over Alcorn State in the fourth game on Saturday in the Purple & Gold Classic at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Roadrunners improved to 8-5 on the season and 2-2 in the tournament. The Lady Braves fell to 2-4 overall and 0-4 in tournament play and were eliminated from bracket play.
Rogers went 2-for-4 in the game with a three-RBI double and a solo home run to lead UTSA in the win. Krystal Gibson also recorded a solo home run for the Roadrunners.
Texas-San Antonio got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Gibson led off with the home run to right center field. With one out, Rogers hit her solo home run to center field for the 2-0 UTSA lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning the Roadrunners added three more runs. With one out, Jenny Garcia walked. After stealing second, Gibson drew a walk to put runners on first and second. A bunt single by Tammy Nelson loaded the bases. Rogers then doubled to center field to clear the bases and give Texas-San Antonio the 5-0 lead.
Alcorn State would have just two base runners in the game, and no Lady Brave would reach beyond first.
Stevi Simpson earned the win for UTSA in relief to improve to 3-2 on the season. She came on in the third inning and pitched five innings of shutout softball. She allowed just two hits with five strikeouts. Ursula Mares started the game and was perfect through two innings with five strikeouts.
Cami Banks took the loss to fall to 1-4 on the year. She allowed five runs on four hits with four walks in six innings.
Alcorn State 000 000 0 – 0 2 0
UTSA 200 030 x – 5 4 0
Banks and Blume. Mares, Simpson (3) and Garcia. W – Simpson (3-2). L – Banks (1-4). HR – Gibson, Rogers. T – 1:36.