BATON ROUGE — With a pair of run-rule victories, the 12th-ranked LSU softball team completed the dominating sweep of the Purple & Gold Challenge, defeating Ohio, 10-2, in five innings and Columbia, 11-0, in five innings on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Tigers are now riding a seven-game winning streak and improve to 15-3 overall. Ohio dropped to 1-9 before defeating Columbia, 2-1, to finish the tournament at 1-5. The Lions dropped to 2-4 overall and in the tournament.
LSU returns to action against Nicholls State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park before traveling to Columbia, S.C. to open Southeastern Conference play next weekend against South Carolina.
For leading the tournament with 12 hits and a .545 batting average, junior Lauren Castle was named the Purple & Gold Challenge Most Valuable Player. She knocked in eight runs and recorded a double, a triple and a home run in six games for a .864 slugging percentage.
In addition, Quinlan Duhon, Camille Harris, Stephanie Hill, Leslie Klein, Killian Roessner and Emily Turner were named to the all-tournament team for the Tigers. Turner went 3-0 in the tournament with a shutout, while average almost 10 strikeouts per seven innings. The remaining five all-tournament players for LSU did not hit below .460 on the weekend and combined to record 25 runs and 24 RBIs, with nine doubles, two triples and three home runs.
“It was a good weekend,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We put all facets of the game together. It’s good to see players swinging the bat. We played outstanding defense and I get very excited watching our team play defense. A lot of people had a great weekend. In the circle, if we can keep the ball in the park, then no one scores on us.”
On the day, Klein and Lauren Delahoussaye each posted a pair of multiple-hit games. Klein went 2-for-2 with a run scored against Ohio before going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored against Columbia. Delahoussaye’s bat came alive as she went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBIs and a run scored against Ohio. Against Columbia, she went 2-for-3 with a triple.
LSU combined for 25 hits in the two games on Sunday, while recording 22 runs and playing errorless softball. Against Ohio, the Tigers recorded the second-most doubles in a single game in LSU history, recording six in the five inning game. The Tigers also got a pair of two-hit performances in the circle as Turner took the win against Ohio and Tiffany Garcia earned the shutout win against Columbia.
Taking a perfect game into the fifth inning, Turner improved to 7-1 on the season. She allowed two runs on two hits with six strikeouts. A leadoff infield single by Emily Futscher in the fifth broke up the bid for the perfect outing. With two outs, she allowed a pinch-hit home run to Shannon Weidner before getting Maghan Lunsford to foul out to the catcher to end the inning.
Garcia recorded her second-consecutive two-hit outing, recording the shutout to improve to 4-0 on the year. She allowed two walks and struck out six in the compete-game. After allowing a single and walk in the first and a single in the second, Garcia walked one in the third and retired the final seven batters in order.
After a scoreless first inning against Ohio, LSU broke the game open with a season-best eight runs in the second inning. Hill led off with a walk. After Dee Dee Henderson came on to pinch run for Hill, she stole second. A single through the left side by Klein sent Henderson to third. Klein then stole second to put runners on second and third. A double through the left side by Delahoussaye scored Henderson and Klein for the 2-0 lead.
Delahoussaye then moved to third on a wild pitch. A walk to Andrea Smith put runners on the corners before Smith stole second. A walk to Kristen Hobbs loaded the bases. The third straight walk for LSU scored Delahoussaye and kept the bases loaded. Duhon then cleared the bases with a double to center field, scoring Delahoussaye, Smith and Hobbs. With one out and Castle on first, Vanessa Soto doubled to center field to score Castle for the 7-0 LSU advantage.
Having batted around, Hill reentered and recorded an infield single. A walk to Klein once again loaded the bases. Delahoussaye recorded her second hit of the inning as she singled through the left side, scoring Soto from third to run the score to 8-0.
After Ohio got on the board in the top of the fifth inning to keep the game alive, LSU closed it out with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Roessner led off with a pinch-hit double to left field. After Hobbs reentered to run for Roessner, Harris singled to left field to move Hobbs to third. Harris then stole second. With the bases loaded after Duhon reached on an error, Castled doubled to left center, scoring Hobbs and Harris to end the game.
Katlyn Mallette started and took the loss for the Bobcats to fall to 0-2 on the season. She allowed three runs on two hits with two walks in one inning. Candy Warden came on in relief and allowed three runs on no hits with three walks without recording an out. Zoe Heim came on in the second and allowed two runs on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Kerri Harley closed out the game, allowed two runs on three hits without recording an out in the fifth.
Against Columbia, LSU got on the board early with a run in the top of the first. Duhon led off with a double to left field. A bunt single by Castle moved Duhon to third and she scored on a throwing error by the second baseman.
In the top of the third, the Tigers added three more. Delahoussaye led off with a single through the left side. After Henderson came on to run for Delahoussaye, she stole second. A ground out by Roessner sent Henderson to third. Smith then doubled to left field to score Henderson. Harris then reached after being hit by a pitch and Duhon reached on a walk to load the bases. With one out and bases still loaded, Soto singled down the left field line, scoring Duhon and Harris to give the Tigers the 4-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, LSU added two more. With one out, Duhon homered to left field, her seventh of the season. With two outs, Soto doubled to left center. Hill then singled through the left side, scoring Soto from second.
The Tigers closed out the scoring with five in the top of the fifth. Smith led off with a single through the left side. With Heidi Robin pinch running for Smith, she stole second. Harris then drew a walk. A Duhon single to right center loaded the bases. Castle walked to score Robin from third. With one out, Hill singled to left field, scoring Castle and Duhon. With two outs, Klein tripled to right field, scoring Hill. Klein then scored on a wild pitch to run the final to 11-0.
Jackie Adelfio started and took the complete-game loss for the Lions to fall to 1-2 on the season. She allowed 11 runs, 10 earned, on 14 hits with four walks and no strikeouts in five innings.
Ohio 000 02 – 2 2 1
LSU 080 02 – 10 11 0
Mallette, Warden (2), Heim (2), Harley (5) and Lunsford. Turner and Hobbs.
WP — Turner (7-1). LP — Mallette (0-2). HR — Weidner. T — 1:41.
LSU 130 25 – 11 14 0
Ohio 000 00 – 0 2 1
Garcia and Roessner. Adelfio and Borton.
WP — Garcia (4-0). LP — Adelfio (1-2). HR — Duhon. T — 1:26. A — 602.
Purple & Gold Challenge All-Tournament Team
Jackie Adelfio Columbia
Quinlan Duhon LSU
Camille Harris LSU
Stephanie Hill LSU
Leslie Klein LSU
Ciji Rich Columbia
Killian Roessner LSU
Emily Turner LSU
Shannon Weidner Ohio
MVP — Lauren Castle LSU
OHIO 2, COLUMBIA 1 — Box Score
BATON ROUGE — An RBI double by Robin Miller in the bottom of the fourth inning gave Ohio its first win of the tournament as the Bobcats defeated Columbia, 2-1, on Sunday in the Purple & Gold Challenge at Tiger Park.
With the win, Ohio improved to 2-9 on the season and 1-5 in the tournament. The Lions fell to 2-3 overall and in the tournament.
Michelle Sauter earned the win for the Bobcats to improve to 1-3 on the season. She did not allow a run on three hits with two strikeouts in four innings of relief. Zoe Heim started and allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts in three innings.
Meghan Ivey took the complete-game loss for Columbia to fall to 1-2 on the season. She allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts for the Lions.
Columbia struck first with a run in the top of the third inning. With one out, Kacy Krisman hit a solo home run to left field to give the Lions the 1-0 advantage.
Ohio answered back in the bottom half of the inning with one run. Debbie Szalejko reached on a bunt single to lead off the inning. She was sacrificed to second and moved to third on an infield ground out. A single through the right side by Shannon Weidner scored Szalejko to tie the game.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Ohio took the lead for good. With one out, Maureen McKelvey singled through the left side. She was sacrificed to second. A double down the left field line by Miller scored McKelvey from second to give the Bobcats the 2-1 lead.
The Lions had a runner on base in the fifth and sixth, but could not push a run across as Sauter shut down Columbia to end the game.
Columbia 001 000 0 – 1 5 1
Ohio 001 100 x – 2 6 1
Ivey and Borton. Heim, Sauter (4) and Davis.
WP — Sauter (1-3). LP — Ivey (1-2). HR — Kacy Krisman. T — 1:26.