AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU softball team had its six-game winning streak ended as Auburn swept a doubleheader from the purple and gold, winning 7-4 and 8-0 in five innings, on Saturday afternoon at the Jane B. Moore Field.
With the losses, LSU fell to 27-17 overall and 9-14 in Southeastern Conference play. AU improved to 41-13 overall and 15-7 in league action.
“Auburn was the better team today,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “On the bright side, our bats continue to come around, but when you out hit a team two to one, you should win. We just didn’t get it done today in the circle or in the field. We made too many errors and there were too many outs in each inning.”
At the plate, four players recorded three hits on the day for the purple and gold, led by a 3-for-5 performance by Quinlan Duhon. Andrea Smith, Lauren Delahoussaye and Camille Harris went 3-for-6 on the day.
After recording just one hit through the first two innings of the first game, Auburn got on the board with two outs in the bottom of the third. AU, the top home run hitting team in the SEC, posted back-to-back-to-back solo home runs to give AU the 3-0 advantage.
LSU rallied right back to tie it up in the top of the fourth inning. The purple and gold posted five straight singles, with one out for runner’s interference mixed in, to get on the board on a single to right field by Smith. A 10-pitch bases loaded walk by Kristen Hobbs scored a second run before LSU tied it up on a single to right center by Harris.
Auburn used a pair of LSU miscues to score four runs in the bottom half of the inning. With a runner on first, Lauren Walton reached on a fielding error by Smith at shortstop as Amy Shaw went to second. On a fielder’s choice by Kristina McCain, Vanessa Soto made an attempt on Walton going to second, but the play was late as Auburn loaded the bases.
After Megan Jolly came in to relieve Emily Turner in the circle, a fielding error by Delahoussaye at third allowed Shaw and Walton to score as McCain went to third and Ashley Griffin advanced to second. A single up the middle by Currie scored McCain and Griffin to give AU the 7-4 advantage.
The purple and gold got one run back in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Harris singled to left field. A double down t he right field line by Lauren Castle scored Harris to cut the Auburn lead to three, 7-4.
In the top of the seventh, LSU mounted one final comeback attempt. The purple and gold loaded the bases with two outs but Harris grounded out to third to end the game.
Turner started and took the loss for LSU to fall to 14-10 on the season. She allowed six runs, four earned, on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts in three innings. Jolly came on in relief in the fourth and allowed one unearned run on one hit with two walks and two strikeouts in three innings.
For Auburn, Beth DiPietro started and earned the win to improve to 21-5 on the season. She allowed four runs on 14 hits with a walk and two strikeouts in six innings. Currie came on in relief in the seventh and allowed one hits with two walks in an inning to earn her fifth save of the year.
In game two, AU got on the board with one run in the bottom of the first. With one out, Griffin singled to left field. She moved to second on a passed ball and to third on a wild pitch. An infield ground out by Dean scored Griffin to give Auburn the 1-0 lead.
AU then got five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Sara Ghezzi singled to center field to lead off the inning. With one out, Lolani Alvarez singled to center field as Brittany Day, running for Ghezzi, moved to second. On a sacrifice bunt attempt by Amy Shaw, Soto dropped the ball at first, loading the bases for Auburn.
McCain then singled to center field, scoring Day and Alvarez. On the play, Shaw scored on a throwing error by Smith, as the ball bounced off of Shaw’s helmet and away from Delahoussaye at third, allowing McCain to take third. A triple to center field by Griffin scored McCain before a wild pitch scored to run the score to 6-0.
Two more by Auburn in the third gave AU the 8-0 lead. Ghezzi led off with a single to left field. With one out, Alvarez reached on a fielding error by Delahoussaye at third. A single to left field by Shaw loaded the bases. On a sacrifice fly to right field by McCain, Ghezzi scored before Alvarez scored on a throwing error by Duhon from right field.
LSU could not rally back as the game ended in five innings, marking just the sixth time in school history that the purple and gold were run-ruled.
Turner started game two for the purple and gold and took the loss, falling to 14-11 on the year. She allowed five runs, four earned, on four hits with a walk and strikeout in an inning and a third. Tiffany Garcia came on in relief in the second and allowed one run on one hit without recording an out. Jolly closed out the game, allowing two runs, one earned, on three hits with a walk in two and two-thirds innings.
Currie earned the complete-game win to improve to 17-8 on the season. She allowed two hits with four walks and three strikeouts in five innings.
The pair will close out the series with a single game on Sunday at noon. The LSU Sports Network will carry the radio broadcast in Baton Rouge on Country Legends 107.3 FM and on the internet at www.LSUsports.net.
LSU 000 301 0 – 4 15 3
Auburn 003 400 x – 7 7 1
Turner, Jolly (4) and Hobbs. DiPietro, Currie (7) and Dean. WP – DiPietro (21-5). LP – Turner (14-10). S – Currie (5). HR – Currie, Dean, Jones. T – 2:23.
LSU 000 00 – 0 2 4
Auburn 152 0x – 8 8 1
Turner, Garcia (2), Jolly (2) and Hobbs. Currie and Dean. WP – Currie (17-8). LP – Turner (14-11). T – 1:33. A – 721.