BATON ROUGE — A solo home run by Andrea Smith gave Dani Hofer the run she needed as the 25th-ranked LSU softball team topped No. 11 Washington, 2-0, on Saturday in the Easton Tiger Classic.
The Tigers (10-0) began the day with a six-inning run-rule win over Western Kentucky, 10-0. LSU will advance to championship play on Sunday as the tournament’s No. 1 seed and play fourth-seeded Western Kentucky at 11:45 a.m. Washington will take on Eastern Michigan at 9:30 a.m. in the day’s first game. The winners will advance to the championship game at 2 p.m.
Hofer (3-0) earned her first win over a nationally ranked team with the shutout victory. The freshman from Safety Harbor, Fla., allowed three hits and four walks while striking out seven in the complete-game effort.
“Those were absolutely miserable conditions out there today,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “The cold affects everyone’s pitchers and makes it especially hard to feel the ball. Dani is a south Florida girl, so I doubt she plays in weather like this very often.
“She didn’t dominate like she has been but you figure she wasn’t going to because this was a Pac-10 team, but she absolutely made pitches when she needed to and that’s the mark of a really good pitcher. She controlled the hitters and the defense was very solid behind her.”
The Tigers threatened first in the game. With one out in the bottom of the third, Smith drew a walk. After Dee Dee Henderson came in to pinch run for her, she stole second. A walk to Camille Harris put runners on first and second. The pair advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, but could get not farther as Lauren Castle flied out to shallow left field and Leslie Klein flied out to left field.
Washington came back with its first threat in the top of the fifth. With one out, Brooke Woodward drew a walk. With Jacki Hansen pinch running for her, she stole second. After a fly out, Marnie Koziol singled to center field. Hansen attempted to score from second, but was tagged out at the plate by Killian Roessner on a perfect throw from center by Klein.
With the game scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, Smith launched her second home run of the season off the left field foul pole to give the Tigers the 1-0 advantage. In the sixth, an RBI single by Stephanie Hill gave LSU an insurance run before the Huskies were retired in order in the seventh to end the game.
“The team was very confident in the dugout,” said Girouard. “We weren’t getting many hits, but they kept saying they were seeing the ball. The team has been pumped to play this game since the season started.”
The Huskies got their only other chance of the game in the top of the sixth. With one out, Dominique Lastrapes singled up the middle. With two outs, Dena Tyson struck out, but reached first on a throwing error by Roessner that allowed Lastrapes to move to third. A walk to Lauren Greer loaded the bases. Hofer came back and struck out pinch hitter Ashlyn Watson on three straight pitches to end the inning.
Caitlin Noble (2-2) took the loss for Washington, allowing two runs on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts in the complete-game effort.
In the first game of the day against the Hilltoppers, Emily Turner earned a complete-game shutout to improve to 3-0 on the season. The junior carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before allowing the lone WKU hit. She finished with two walks and six strikeouts.
“We want to go for the strikeout first,” said Girouard, “then we want to control the hitters and that is what both pitchers did today.”
The Tigers got on the board in the top of the first inning with two runs. Vanessa Soto knocked in Harris on a sacrifice fly before Quinlan Duhon knocked in Castle on an RBI double.
In the top of the third, LSU added a third run on an RBI double by Soto. The Tigers broke the game open with seven runs in the sixth inning. LSU got RBI singles from Smith and Duhon, a two-RBI single from Roessner, an RBI fielder’s choice by Castle, while Lauren Delahoussaye scored on an error and Klein scored on a wild pitch.
Smith, Klein, Duhon and Roessner each posted a multiple-hit game against Western Kentucky, while Soto, Duhon and Roessner recorded a multiple-RBI game against the Hilltoppers.
In 10 games this season, the Tigers are averaging over nine runs a game, with a .391 team batting average, having hit 27 doubles, two triples and eight home runs.
From the circle, LSU has countered with stellar performances in the circle. The Tigers have recorded a perfect game and two no-hitters in 10 outings. In 59 innings, LSU had given up just one run on 19 hits with a 0.12 team earned run average while opponents are hitting just .098 against them.
In other tournament action on Sunday, Washington defeated Mississippi Valley State, 3-0, before Eastern Michigan topped Western Kentucky. 5-1. EMU then defeated MVSU, 10-2 in six innings to take the third spot in bracket play. Western Kentucky topped Mississippi Valley, 13-2 in five innings, in the final game of the day, as WKU advances to bracket play as the fourth seed to face LSU.