BATON ROUGE — For the second straight day, the 12th-ranked LSU softball team swept a pair of games in the Purple & Gold Challenge, defeating Columbia, 1-0, before run-ruling Ohio, 13-0, in five innings.
With the wins, the Tigers are riding a five-game winning streak and improved to 13-3 on the season and 4-0 in the tournament. The Columbia Lions fell to 1-2 on the year and in the tournament, while the Ohio Bobcats fell to 1-7 overall and 0-3 in the tournament.
LSU will close out the Purple & Gold Challenge on Sunday with a pair of games. The Tigers will face Ohio at 9 a.m. before ending the tournament against Columbia at 1:30 p.m. The Bobcats and Lions will face off at 11:15 a.m. in the tournament’s other game.
For the second-straight day, LSU got a pair of two-hitters to lead the effort from the circle. In the first game, Emily Turner recorded her second complete-game shutout, facing just one over the minimum in seven innings. She improved to 6-1 on the season while recording seven strikeouts.
Against Ohio in the nightcap, Tiffany Garcia earned her third victory of the season to improve to 3-0, while recording her second complete-game shutout. She threw three and a third innings of no-hit softball before allowing two hits in the fourth, the only two hits allowed in the game. She also struck out three and did not allow a walk.
“I was very pleased with both pitchers today,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “I thought that Emily threw really well. She’s been working on some things and she got some pitches working. Tiffany obviously threw very well and I’m happy for her.
Sophomore Lauren Castle went 4-for-8 at the plate with four RBIs to lead the Tigers. The designated player is 9-for-15 in the tournament and improved her season average to .404. As a team, LSU posted 22 hits in the two games, including 14 against Ohio. The Tigers, however, stranded 12 on base against Columbia, including a runner in scoring position in six of the seven innings.
“We hit the ball well in both games, but we left too many people on base in the first one,” said Girouard. “That is something that we will have to correct starting this week.”
Against Columbia, LSU got on the board in the bottom of the first with what proved to be the game-winning run. Leslie Klein led off with a single up the middle. Castle then reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error by the pitcher as Klein moved to third. A sacrifice bunt by Vanessa Soto scored Klein to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead.
In the top of the second, the Lions got their first hit of the game as Ciji Rich singled to right center to lead off the inning, but she was thrown out attempting to take second on the play.
LSU had a runner on third with two outs in the third, but could not score. In the fourth, the Tigers loaded the bases with not outs, but could not push another run across.
The Lions recorded their second hit of the game in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, Kimberly Krisman just beat out a hit to the shortstop, but she was stranded at first as Turner got the next batter out on a ground ball to third.
In the bottom of the sixth, LSU left runners on second and third, but could not get a run out of it. The Tigers then shut down Columbia in order in the seventh to end the game.
Jackie Adelfio dropped to 1-1 with the complete-game loss for the Lions. She allowed one unearned run on eight hits with six walks and a strikeout.
In the nightcap against Ohio, LSU broke it open with six runs in the top of the second inning. Stephanie Hill led off with a walk. After Dee Dee Henderson came in to run for her, she stole second. With one out, Henderson stole third. A single up the middle by Andrea Smith scored Henderson.
Back-to-back walks by Killian Roessner and Camille Harris loaded the bases. With Heidi Robin running for Roessner at second, Klein doubled to left center to score Smith and Robin for the 3-0 Tiger lead.
With runners on second and third, Castle singled up the middle and advanced to second on the throw as Klein and Harris scored. After Castle moved to third on an illegal pitch, she scored on a sacrifice fly by Soto to put LSU ahead, 6-0.
The Tigers added four more runs in the top of the third inning. With one out Roessner singled through the right side. A single by Harris moved Roessner to second. On a fielder’s choice by Klein, the play failed to get Harris at second as Roessner went to third. With the bases loaded, Castle singled up the middle and advanced to second on the throw as Roessner and Harris scored and Klein moved to third on a throwing error by the center fielder. With two outs, Quinlan Duhon singled up the middle to score Castle and Klein and give LSU the 10-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the inning, Ohio broke up the perfect game when Debbie Szalejko reached on a throwing error by Erika Sluss a third base with two outs. She was stranded there as the next batter flew out to center field.
The Tigers closed out the scoring with three in the top of the fifth. Klein led off with a walk. She moved to second on a bunt single by Castle. A single up the middle by Soto scored Klein from second and moved Castle to second. They pair moved to second and third on a passed ball. A sacrifice fly by Duhon scored Castle and sent Soto to third. Hill then singled up the middle to score Soto for the LSU 13-0 win.
Kerri Harley started and took the loss for Ohio to fall to 0-3 on the season. She allowed five runs on five hits with three walks in an inning and third. Michelle Sauter came on in relief and allowed eight runs, seven earned, on 11 hits with a walk and a strikeout. Candy Warden closed out the game with two-thirds hitless innings with a walk.
Columbia 000 000 0 – 0 2 1
LSU 100 000 x – 1 8 0
Adelfio and Borton. Turner and Hobbs.
WP — Turner (6-1). LP — Adelfio (1-1). T — 1:39.
LSU 064 03 – 13 14 1
Ohio 000 00 – 0 2 1
Garcia and Roessner. Harley, Sauter (2), Warden (5) and Davis.
WP — Garcia (3-0). LP — Harley (0-3). T — 1:27 A — 681.
COLUMBIA 2, OHIO 0 — Box Score
BATON ROUGE — A two-out two-RBI single by Kim Krisman led Columbia to a 2-0 win over Ohio in the third game of the Purple & Gold Challenge on Saturday at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Lions improved to 2-2 on the season and 2-2 in the tournament. The Bobcats fell to 1-8 overall and 0-4 in tournament play.
Meghan Ivey threw a complete-game six-hit shutout to improve to 1-1 on the season for Columbia. She did not allow a walk and struck out one. Michelle Sauter took the complete-game loss for the Ohio. She allowed two runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Taylor Tierney led off with a walk .With one out, she moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Shelle Borton. A single to center field by Kacy Krisman moved Tierney to third as Krisman took second on the throw. Kim Krisman then singled down the right field line, scoring both runners to give the Lions the 2-0 win.
Ohio threatened in the top of the sixth. With one out and a runner on first after a fielder’s choice, Emily Futscher singled to left field to put runners on first and second. Columbia then got the next two outs to end the inning and the threat. The Bobcats got one runner on the bottom of the seventh, but could not covert to end the game.
Ohio 000 000 0 – 0 6 1
Columbia 000 020 x – 2 5 2
Sauter and Lunsford, Davis (5). Ivey and Borton.
WP — Ivey (1-1). LP — Sauter (0-3). T — 1:28.