BATON ROUGE — The 13th-ranked LSU softball team placed seven players on the all-tournament team, including Most Valuable Player Stephanie Hill, as the Tigers defeated Louisiana Tech, 3-2, in the semifinal and Southern Miss, 13-2 in six innings, in the championship game to win the Purple & Gold Challenge on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the pair of wins, LSU improved to 12-3 on the season and completed the tournament at 6-0 with four run-rule victories. Louisiana Tech dropped to 7-8 on the year and completed tournament play at 2-3. Southern Miss defeated UTSA, 6-5, to advance to the championship game. With the championship game loss, the Lady Eagles dropped to 5-7 on the year and 3-3 in the tournament.
First baseman Hill led the Tigers on the all-tournament team, being named the MVP. In addition, pitcher Kristin Schmidt, second baseman Sara Fitzgerald, third baseman Julie Wiese, shortstop Lauren Delahoussaye, and outfielders LaDonia Hughes and Leslie Klein earned all-tournament recognition as LSU hit .475 as a team in six tournament games with a 0.80 earned run average.
After taking a 3-0 win over Louisiana Tech in the final game on Saturday, LSU had to turn around and take on the Lady Techsters in the tournament semifinals on Sunday morning. Louisiana Tech took the 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning lead before the Tigers responded with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth to take the 3-2 lead. LSU then held off a final Lady Techster rally in the seventh for the win.
“They brought their “A” game both times against us and they made some nice plays,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “They adjusted last night, and we tried to adjust today. That’s the first real battle that I’ve seen and we came out on top, so that was a good win.”
Kristin Schmidt earned the complete-game win for the Tigers to improve to 6-2 on the season. She allowed two runs, one earned, on nine hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Marla Pinkston took the complete-game loss for Louisiana Tech to fall to 4-6 on the year. She allowed three runs on seven hits with five walks and four strikeouts.
“What I really like about our team is that when the long game starts to go away, here comes the short game,” said Girouard. “In fact the short game probably won the game for us. We made some plays we needed to make and Kristin made some pitches when she needed to.”
In the top of the third, the Lady Techsters got on the board. Brittany Stanley led off with an infield single. On a sacrifice bunt attempt by Casey Reiff, Schmidt overthrew Sara Fitzgerald covering second, allowing Stanley to score from first.
With one out in the fourth, Louisiana Tech extended its lead to 2-0 on a one-out solo home run to left field by Christine Echols.
The Tigers got one back in the bottom half of the inning. Klein led off with a triple to center field. She then scored on a single to left field by Hill.
LSU took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth. Fitzgerald led off the inning with a walk. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Camille Harris. After a walk to Hughes, the pair advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. A single to left field by Lauren Castle scored Fitzgerald as Castle went to second on the throw home.
A walk to Klein loaded the bases. After Hughes was called out at third for interference on a foul ball, Hill walked to load the bases. Wiese then recorded an RBI infield single deep in the hole at shortstop that scored what proved to be the game winning run.
Louisiana Tech attempted to rally in the top of the seventh. Aimee Coleman led off with an infield single. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. An infield groundout moved Coleman to third. After a walk to Casey Reiff put runners at first and third, Schmidt got Bridget Broadnax to strike out looking to end the game and send the Tigers to the championship game.
In a rematch with the Lady Eagles in the championship, LSU took a little while to get the bats going, but once it did, the Tigers completed its fourth run-rule win of the tournament, and second over Southern Miss. LSU pounded out 13 runs on 18 hits with three doubles a triple and three home runs in the game.
“I like the way we compete,” said Girouard. “Softball is a lot of fun when you are hitting the ball like that. It should be a lot of fun for the fans, too. This is a good group to watch.”
Emily Turner earned the complete-game win for LSU to improve to 5-1 on the season. She allowed two unearned runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
Danielle Hatfield started and took the loss for the Lady Eagles to drop to 3-1 on the season. She allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits with a strikeout in two innings. Jessica Holaway came on in relief and allowed eight runs, seven earned, on 12 hits with two walks and a strikeout in four innings.
The Tigers struck first with three runs in the top of the second inning. With one out, Wiese singled to left field. Fitzgerald then singled to left to move Wiese to second. A single to right by Delahoussaye loaded the bases. Leigh Ann Danos drove in Wiese from third on a single to center field. Fitzgerald scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Harris that also moved Delahoussaye to third. She then scored on a single through the left side by Hughes.
Southern Miss got one back in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Sue Logan singled to right center. After stealing second, she scored on an error by the shortstop.
LSU got the run back and added one more in the top of the third as Hill hit a two-run home run to left field. In the top of the fourth, LSU added another on an infield single by Castle.
The Lady Eagles would score their final run in the bottom of the third. With one out, Auriel Jenkins reached on an error by Hill at first as she dropped the ball attempting to tag Jenkins out. With two outs, Logan singled up the middle and Jenkins advanced to third. She scored on an infield single by Charity Butler.
In the top of the fifth, the Tigers added two more as Fitzgerald led off with a double to left field. With two outs and Fitzgerald at third, Harris tripled to right field, scoring Fitzgerald. Harris then scored on an infield single by Hughes.
LSU closed out the game as the Tigers erupted for five runs in the top of the sixth. With one out, Hill hit a ground ball to third that she scored on, as the third baseman could not come up with the ball and the left fielder allowed the ball to roll past her and to the fence. Wiese then homered to left center. After Fitzgerald’s second double of the game, she moved to third on a single by Delahoussaye. Danos then nailed her first home run of the season to right field, scoring Fitzgerald and Delahoussaye to close out the 13-2 victory.
The Tigers return to action on Wednesday as LSU hosts Nicholls State in a single game. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Tiger Park. The Tigers then travel to Columbus, Ga., for the NFCA Leadoff Classic next weekend. LSU will face some of the nation’s top softball competition as 14 of the top 25 teams in the nation 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.
Louisiana Tech 001 100 0 – 2 9 0
LSU 000 120 x – 3 7 1
Pinkston and Echols. Schmidt and Hobbs. W – Schmidt (6-2). L – Pinkston (4-6). HR – Echols. T – 2:06.
LSU 032 125 – 13 18 3
Southern Miss 010 100 – 2 5 4
Turner and Danos. Hatfield, Holaway (3) and Logan. W – Turner (5-1). L – Hatfield (3-1). HR – Hill, Wiese, Danos. T – 1:56.
Game 1 – Southern Miss 6, Texas-San Antonio 5
Five runs in the top of the fourth inning helped lead Southern Miss overcome a 3-0 deficit on its way to a 6-5 victory over Texas-San Antonio in the semifinals of the Purple & Gold Challenge in Tiger Park on Sunday morning.
With the win, Southern Miss improved to 5-6 on the season and 3-2 in the tournament. Texas-San Antonio dropped to 8-6 overall and concluded tournament play at 2-3.
Jessica Holaway earned the complete-game win for the Lady Eagles to improve to 2-2 on the year. She allowed five runs, two earned, on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Ursula Mares took the loss for the Roadrunners to drop to 5-4 on the year. She allowed six runs, five earned, on 10 hits with one walk and one strikeout.
UTSA struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. With two outs, Stacey Gillespie and Jenny Garcia drew back-to-back walks. Krystal Gibson reached on an error by the second baseman that loaded the bases. A single to right center scored both Gillespie and Garcia for the 2-0 Roadrunner lead.
They expanded that lead to 3-0 with a run in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Jessica Els reached and advanced to second on an error by the USM left fielder. She then scored on a single to right field by Aimee Murray.
Southern Miss responded with five runs in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Auriel Jenkins recorded an infield single. She then scored on a double to left center by Ashley Davis. On a single through the left side by Sue Logan, Davis moved to third.
Charity Butler then hit a double and advanced to third on an error by the center fielder as Logan and Davis scored. A single through the left side by Heather Bell scored Butler. The hit barrage concluded with a double to left center that scored Bell to give the Lady Eagles the 5-3 lead.
USM would add what proved to be the winning run in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, Hammes doubled down the left field line. On a fly out to left field, Hammes moved to third and scored on an overthrown ball by the left fielder.
The Roadrunners would attempt a rally in the seventh inning with a pair of runs. With two outs, Jennifer Davis singled down the left field line. Jessica Rogers then nailed a home run to left field to cut the Southern Miss lead to one, but UTSA could get no closer as Christy Brownlee lined out to shortstop to end the game.
Southern Miss 000 500 1 – 6 10 2
UTSA 021 000 2 – 5 7 2
Holaway and Logan. Mares and Els. W – Holaway (2-2). L – Mares (5-4). HR – Rogers. T – 2:04.