BATON ROUGE — Four runs in the sixth and two in the seventh led the 11th-ranked LSU softball team to a come from behind 6-5 win over Auburn in the second game after shutting out AU, 4-0, in game one to complete the Southeastern Conference doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Park.
In front of a crowd of 914 for “Pack the Park” the purple and gold extended their winning streak to 13 games, one shy of their season best 14-game winning streak, and improved to 38-5 overall and 12-2 in SEC play. Auburn dropped to 25-12 on the season and 6-8 in conference action.
“I’ve got to hand it to the team,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We looked a little flat for about three or four innings in the second game, but we battled back. We came from behind and never game up. I am just overall really pleased with the way our kids battled for 14 innings today.”
LSU will go for its fourth SEC sweep of the season on Sunday at 1 p.m. The final game will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37. The game will also be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network in Baton Rouge on The X – 104.5/104.9 FM. The broadcast can also be heard in the GeauxZone powered by USAgencies on LSUsports.net.
Trialing 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning of the second game, Vanessa Soto led off with a solo home run to center field. With two outs, the Fighting Tigers mounted a tremendous rally to take the lead on Auburn. With the bases loaded, Andrea Smith singled up the middle to cut the lead to two. A two-run single up the middle by Lauren Castle gave LSU its first lead of the game.
AU came back with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to re-take the lead. With one out, Auburn drew a walk and got a single to right center to put runners on first and third. Emily Turner came on in relief of Dani Hofer and gave up a single to left center that tied the game. A single down the right field line gave Auburn the 5-4 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Soto led off the seventh with a walk. With Dee Dee Henderson running for her, Leslie Klein reached on a fielder’s choice as Henderson advanced to second on an error. A perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by Shannon Stein put runners on second and third with one out. Quinlan Duhon then hit a fly ball to right field that scored Henderson to tie the game. On the throw from right field, the catcher let the ball get away from her, allowing Klein to score the winning run, 6-5.
“One thing I am so proud of is that a lot of this was done with two outs,” said Girouard. “Some of our game wasn’t on in the second game but we absolutely got it done when we needed to.
“We had some critical role players for us,” she continued. “Stein came off the bench and laid down the bunt. If we just put the bat on the ball, Dee Dee is going to score. She has just been an unstoppable weapon for us.”
Auburn seemed to have everything going its way early in the second game. AU got one run in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Myesha Finney. They extended the lead to 2-0 with a run in the top of the second. Auburn got two infield singles that just fell in short of the defensive players that led to the run.
A third run in the top of the fifth after an LSU error extended the lead to 3-0 as AU held all the momentum in the game until Soto’s home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth for the Fighting Tigers.
Turner earned the win in relief in the second game after also earning the complete-game win in the first game. She improved to 16-2 on the season. In the second game, she came on in the seventh and allowed two hits with two strikeouts in two-thirds innings.
In her first outing, she allowed only three hits while throwing her 11th complete-game shutout of the season. She also struck out 10 while walking just two.
“I thought that Emily was dynamite in the first game,” said Girouard.
Holly Currie took both losses for Auburn to fall to 14-7 on the season, taking the first loss in a complete-game and the second in relief. She allowed two unearned runs with one walk in an inning in the second game, while allowing four runs on seven hits with five walks and five strikeouts in game one.
The Fighting Tigers came out and took the lead in the bottom of the first inning of the first contest. With one out, Camille Harris pounded a 1-2 pitch over the right center field fence and out into the construction site across the street for the 1-0 LSU lead.
In the bottom of the third, Leslie Klein got a single to fall in right field, allowing pinch runner Heidi Robin to score from third with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 2-0.
A single run in the third gave the Fighting Tigers the 3-0 advantage. Castle singled up the middle, scoring Stein from second. Stein was pinch running for Lauren Delahoussaye, who had reached on a single earlier in the inning and moved to second on a walk by Smith.
LSU closed out the scoring in the bottom of the sixth. Delahoussaye was once again responsible for the run being scored. She singled up the middle to lead off the inning and then moved to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Castle sacrificed her to third. A single up the middle by Harris scored Delahoussaye from third for the final run of the game.
Turner dominated Auburn through most of game. She allowed her first base runner in the top of the third with a one-out walk. IN the top of the fourth, she surrendered her first hit on a leadoff single that was lost in the sun by Smith at shortstop, but never left the infield. A walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases for AU’s best scoring chance of the game.
With one out, Turner then retired the final two batters of the innings by way of the strikeout to work out of trouble. The final two remaining hits she surrendered were scattered over the fifth and sixth inning as she retired 11 of the final 13 batters she faced in the game.
LSU snapped a four-game losing streak to Auburn with the two wins. The Fighting Tigers lost all four meeting with AU last year, including three in Auburn and one in the SEC Tournament in Gainesville, Fla. LSU is now 28-10 all-time against Auburn and 15-4 against AU in Baton Rouge, winning five of the last seven meetings.