BATON ROUGE — A triple and a home run by Camille Harris led the 12th-ranked LSU softball team to a 6-2 win over in-state rival Nicholls State on Wednesday evening at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Tigers matched their longest win streak of the season at eight games and improved to 16-3 on the year. The Lady Colonels dropped to 4-10 on the season.
“I think that was a game Nicholls team,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “They are much better than their record indicates. They have played some good competition. We hit the ball hard and they made some nice plays. There is always something for us to improve on as a team, but when you look up and see a zero in the error column, you always have to love that.”
Harris went 3-for-3 on the night, going a double shy of the cycle. In addition, the junior outfielder accounted for three of LSU’s six runs, scoring twice and knocking in another, while posting five putouts in center field. With LSU leading 3-2 in the fourth, Harris hit a solo home run to stretch the LSU lead to 4-2. In the bottom of the sixth with two outs and a runner on first, she tripled to center field, her second of the season, and scored on an error that gave the Tigers the 6-2 final.
“Camille came and watched some video and saw that she needed to correct some stuff on her swing and she did that,” said Girouard. “To our players’ credit, when you work extra and do things above and beyond, it usually pays off. She looks like she’s starting to get on a roll. She is a perennial slow starter, so let’s hope that she is just kicking it into overdrive.”
Emily Turner started and earned the complete-game win for LSU to improve to 8-1 on the season. She allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and nine strikeouts. The two runs she allowed were on a two-run home run in the top of the third. After allowing a double to lead off the fourth inning, Turner retired the final 12 batters in order to end the game.
“Once again, we’ve got to try and keep the ball in the park, but other than that, Emily only gave up four hits and threw pretty well,” said Girouard. “Some things aren’t quite working for her all the time, so we’ll have to do better for this weekend.”
In the bottom of the first inning, LSU got on the board first. Quinlan Duhon led off with a double to left center. She moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Lauren Castle.
In the top of the third, Nicholls State broke through with its only runs of the game. With two outs and a runner on first after a walk and fielder’s choice, Andrea Ground homered to right field to put the Lady Colonels ahead, 2-1.
The Tigers came back to take the lead in the bottom half of the inning with a pair of runs of their own. Castle led off with a bunt single. She moved to second on a walk by Vanessa Soto. Stephanie Hill then hit a slow ground ball to third. After the third baseman looked a third, she threw to first, where the first baseman muffed the throw, allowing Castle to score and Soto to take third. With two outs, Lauren Delahoussaye singled through the left side to score Soto and give LSU the 3-2 lead.
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers added to their lead with a solo home run to center field by Harris. The first home run of the season for Harris gave LSU the 4-2 advantage.
The Tigers capitalized on two Nicholls errors to add two more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs, Kristen Hobbs reached on a fielding error by the third baseman. Harris then tripled to center field, scoring Hobbs. On the play, the second baseman dropped the cut off throw, allowing Harris to score from third for the 6-2 final.
Ally May started and took the complete-game loss for the Lady Colonels to fall to 0-4 on the season. She allowed six runs, three earned, on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout.
LSU begins Southeastern Conference play this weekend on the road at South Carolina. The Tigers will take on the Gamecocks in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon (CT) before closing out the series with a single game on Sunday at noon (CT). All three games will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Network in Baton Rouge on Country Legends 107.3 FM.
Nicholls State 002 000 0 – 2 4 3
LSU 102 102 x – 6 8 0
May and Sick. Turner and Hobbs.
WP — Turner (8-1). LP — May (0-4).
HR — Ground (1), Harris (1). T — 1:51. A — 600.