PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — A power display by Vanessa Soto led the 19th-ranked LSU softball team to a pair of wins over Texas Tech, 4-3, and UC-Santa Barbara, 6-1, on Saturday evening at the Palms Springs Classic.
With the wins, the Tigers improved to 16-2 on the season and evened their record in the tournament at 2-2. LSU will conclude tournament play against No. 6 Stanford on Sunday at 11 a.m. (CT). The game will be televised live on ESPNU.
“It was a productive day at the ballpark,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “After a shaky beginning I thought we settled down and played some good defense. It seemed like we had a mini-hangover from last night and was very uncharacteristic of this team. We have a great opportunity early in the morning to play another very good opponent.”
For the day, Soto led the Tigers with a 4-for-6 performance from the plate with a double, two home runs and six RBIs. Her three-run home run against Texas Tech completed a four-run inning to overcome a three-run deficit for the win. Andrea Smith went 3-for-6 with an RBI, while Stephanie Hill was 2-for-6 with a home run.
“Soto is just having a marvelous tournament,” said Girouard. “She is swinging the bat with authority in key situations to ignite rallies.
Texas Tech used errors to pull ahead of LSU early in the first game. The Red Raiders scored two in the top of the second and added a third in the top of the third to take the 3-0 lead.
The Tigers came back and took the lead in the bottom of the third. Lauren Delahoussaye reached on an error by the shortstop to lead off the inning. With Dee Dee Henderson running for her at first, Henderson stole second. She moved to third on a single to left by Smith.
Heidi Robin came in to run for Smith at first and stole second. Leslie Klein was then hit by a pitch to load the bases. A fielder’s choice ground out by Lauren Castle scored Henderson from third and moved Robin to third and Klein to second. Soto then came up and drove the first pitch over the center field fence for the 4-3 LSU lead.
After Tiffany Garcia came on in relief in the third inning, the sophomore did not yield a hit in five innings of work to earn the win and improve to 4-0 on the season. In addition, she struck out six and did not allow a walk. Megan Jolly started and allowed three unearned run on three hits with a walk and two strikeouts in two innings.
“Tiffany Garcia came on in relief and absolutely picked the team up,” said Girouard. She completely shut down the Texas Tech offense.”
Sarah Losleben took the loss for Texas Tech to fall to 0-5 on the season. She allowed four runs, three earned, on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts in two and a third innings. Megan Shupp came on in relief and gave up two hits with two walks and four strikeouts in three and two-thirds innings of work.
An error in the top of the first allowed UC-Santa Barbara to get on the board first in game two. Leadoff batter Christine Ramos reached on an error by Smith at shortstop. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. On a single to left field by Tiffany Wright, Ramos scored from second.
The Tigers tied it up in the bottom of the second. Hill led off with a single up the middle. With Henderson running for her at first, Henderson stole second. An infield ground out by Fallon Fisher moved Henderson to third.
Delahoussaye was then hit by a pitch. With Robin running for Delahoussaye at first, she stole second to put runners at second and third. An infield ground out by Killian Roessner scored Henderson to tie it up at one all.
LSU took the lead in the bottom of the third. Camille Harris was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. On an infield single by Castle, a throwing error by the pitcher allowed Harris to take third and Castle to advance to second.
Soto then hit her team-leading ninth double down the right field line, scoring both runs to put the Tigers ahead, 3-1. With two outs, Fisher singled up the middle, but Soto was thrown out at home trying to score from second.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, LSU added three runs to extend its lead to 6-1. The Tigers posted a pair of solo home runs by Soto and Hill. It was the second home run of the day for Soto and her third of the season. For Hill, it was her third of the season and the 21st of her career, pulling her to within 10 of the school record.
Tami Weston came on in relief of UCSB starter Ginger Gutierrez and walked three straight on 12 pitches to load the bases. With Jennifer Davis replacing Weston in the circle, Smith singled to center field to score Fisher from third but Delahoussaye was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second.
Dani Hofer earned the complete-game win to improve to 5-1 on the season. She allowed one unearned run on five hits with nine strikeouts.
“Dani looked very good tonight,” said Girouard. “She was in complete control after the first inning and really only had one bad pitch in that inning.”
Gutierrez started and took the loss to fall to 0-2 for UCSB. She allowed five runs on eight hits with three strikeouts in four and two-thirds innings. Weston came on in relief and walked all three batters she faced. Davis allowed one hit and a walk with one strikeout in an inning and a third.