BATON ROUGE — The fifth-ranked LSU softball team pounded out five extra-base hits, including two home runs, on its way to shutting out Alabama A&M, 7-0, on Wednesday night at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 28-7 on the season, while the Lady Bulldogs dropped to 8-23 on the season.
LSU recorded 13 hits in the game, including a pair of doubles, a triple and the Tigers’ Southeastern Conference leading 40th and 41st home runs of the season. Conversely, Alabama A&M managed only two bloop singles late in the game, breaking up the no-hit bid by Emily Turner in the sixth inning.
“We did what we needed to do tonight,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We hit the ball hard at times. Alabama A&M was a better team that I thought and they made some nice plays.
“We’ve got to get better tomorrow because we know what looms ahead. We had some good hits today, but we need to show some more consistency. Nine times out of 10 it is usually us that is getting us out and that is something that we need to work on.”
Turner threw the complete game shutout, her fifth of the season, to improve to 11-3 on the year. She scattered two hits and faced just three over the minimum in seven innings of work, while striking out seven.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead, paced by back-to-back home runs in the bottom of the first inning. With Camille Harris on second after a walk and a stolen base, Lauren Castle belted her fourth home run of the season to right field. Leslie Klein then nailed her SEC-leading ninth homer of the year to right center field to give LSU the 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, Lauren Delahoussaye led off with a double to right center. A single to left field by Stephanie Hill scored Delahoussaye from second. Hill moved to second on a single through the left side by Julie Weise. With one out, Sara Fitzgerald singled to left field, scoring Hill from second to give the Tigers the 5-0 advantage.
LSU had a chance to end the game early in the bottom of the fifth inning. Kristen Hobbs led off with a double down the left field line. With one out, LaDonia Hughes recorded an infield single, moving Hobbs to third before she scored on an error by the second baseman on the play. A ground out by Harris sent Hughes to second. She scored on a single to center field by Leigh Ann Danos. With the game-ending run on first, the Tigers could close it out as Danos was stranded at second.
In the top of the sixth, the Lady Bulldogs broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single to right field that fell in just ahead of a charging Harris. The hit would cause no damage as Turner got out of the inning without the runner advancing.
Alabama A&M added its final hit of the game in the seventh as the Lady Bulldogs recorded a one-out single that dropped in on the right field line just behind the bag at first base. The game ended on a popout caught by Hobbs at the plate, preserving the shutout, the 11th of the season for LSU.
Tasha Sloan took the complete-game loss to fall to 7-9 on the year. She allowed seven runs on 13 hits with two walks and four strikeouts. The Tigers now travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for a three-game SEC series with No. 7 Alabama. LSU will take on the Crimson Tide in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1p.m. The game will be televised on FoxSports in Baton Rouge on cable channel 38. All three games can be heard on the LSU Sports Network on WJNH 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge or on the internet at LSUsports.net.
Alcorn State 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
LSU 302 020 x – 7 13 2
Sloan and Townsend. Turner and Hobbs. W – Turner (11-3). L – Sloan (7-9).
HR – Castle, Klein. T – 1:36. A – 523.