LAKE CHARLES, La. — In front of a record crowd of 833, the 12th-ranked LSU softball team came from behind to defeat McNeese State, 3-1, in nine innings on Wednesday evening at the Cowgirl Diamond.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 25-3 on the season and extend their winning streak to nine games. The loss dropped the Cowgirls to 8-13 on the year and snapped a two-game winning streak for McNeese.
“We absolutely took McNeese’s best shot,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “It was a great collegiate atmosphere with a standing room only crowd with made it a fun night. I do like the way the team didn’t panic and the way they believe they can come back on any opponent.”
Emily Turner earned the complete-game win for LSU to improve to 8-1 on the season. She allowed just one run on six hits with one walk and a season-best 14 strikeouts. After giving up the one run in the bottom of the third, Turner retired 18 of the final 20 batters to end the game, with only one batter reaching scoring position.
Killian Roessner led the Tigers with a 2-for-4 performance at the plate with a double and the game-tying RBI in the top of the sixth inning. In the top of the ninth, LSU got a hit and a walk before back-to-back errors by the Cowgirls allowed a pair of Tiger runs to cross the plate for the win.
Jessica Denham took the complete-game loss for McNeese State to fall to 3-8 on the year. She allowed three runs, one earned, on seven hits with seven walks and five strikeouts for the Cowgirls.
“They made every defensive play possible until the last inning,” said Girouard. “Their pitcher Jessica Denham did a great job keeping us off balance. She threw a great game and her change up was devastating at times.”
McNeese State got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, Brooke Broadhead doubled to left field. A hard hit single off the glove of Stephanie Hill at first by Jana Jones scored Broadhead from second to give the Cowgirls the lead.
“They were very opportunistic,” said Girouard. “They got two base hits and scored a run early. Credit the Tigers who battled in there and got it done.”
LSU came back to tie the game in the top of the sixth. Vanessa Soto led off with a single through the right side. With Shannon Stein running for Soto at first, Stein advanced to second on a sacrifice by Leslie Klein. Stephanie Hill and Quinlan Duhon then drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. A sacrifice fly by Roessner scored Stein from third to tie it up at one all.
After stranding runners on base in the seventh and eighth, the Tigers broke the tie in the top of the ninth inning. With one out, Harris singled up the middle. After a ground out by Castle sent Harris to second, Soto walked. Klein the reached on a fielding error by the second baseman as Soto advanced to third and Harris scored. A fielding error by the first baseman on a ball hit by Hill allowed Soto to score from third and give LSU the 3-1 advantage.
Despite allowing the lead off runner to reach in the bottom half of the inning, Turner came back to retire the final three batters to end the game.
LSU returns home to face nationally ranked Georgia in a three-game series at Tiger Park this weekend. The Tigers take on the Bulldogs in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. The series concludes with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. The first game of the series will be televised live on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.