BATON ROUGE — Leslie Klein went 5-for-6 as the 11th-ranked LSU softball team swept a Southeastern Conference doubleheader from South Carolina, 9-0 in five innings and 1-0, on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the wins, the Tigers improved to 34-5 on the season and 9-2 in league play, as LSU has now won nine consecutive games. The Gamecocks fell to 22-16 overall and 2-9 in conference action, dropping their fourth straight game. The Tigers will go for the sweep on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m. The series final will be televised on SEC-TV in Baton Rouge on FSN Southwest, cable channel 38.
“We came out firing on all cylinders in the first game,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “However, in the second game, we just left too many people on base. The series is not over. We still have to come out and take care of business tomorrow.”
Klein led LSU at the plate, combining for a 5-for-6 performance, including a perfect 3-for-3 mark in game two. The junior from Sunrise, Fla., recorded one RBI and scored one run, while leading to the one run scored in the second game. She now leads the team with a .427 average for the year, including a team-best 35 RBIs.
Emily Turner earned the complete-game one-hit win for LSU in the first game, recording eight strikeouts while walking no one. It marked her third one-hitter of the season as she improved to 13-2 on the year. Dani Hofer came out and added her second complete-game one-hitter of the season in game two. She did not walk a batter, while striking out seven to improve to 12-3 on the year.
“I thought both pitchers did a great job of controlling South Carolina’s pitchers and Leslie Klein continues her streak at the plate,” said Girouard.
In the first game, the Tigers came out and took the 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Lauren Castle led off with an infield single. With Dee Dee Henderson running for Castle, Henderson moved to second on a wild pitch. An infield ground out by Camille Harris sent Henderson to third.
Vanessa Soto then nailed her SEC-leading 14th double of the season to right center, scoring Henderson. A single to left field by Klein moved Soto to third. Stephanie Hill then singled up the middle to score Soto for the 2-0 advantage.
In the third, Lauren Delahoussaye drew a one-out walk. She moved to second on an infield ground out by Andrea Smith. With Heidi Robin running for Delahoussaye at second, a single off the glove of the first baseman by Castle scored Robin from second to run the score to 3-0.
Soto reached on a fielding error by the center fielder to lead off the fourth inning and moved to second. A single up the middle by Klein scored Soto as the Tigers took the 4-0 lead.
The Gamecocks got their only hit of the game in the top of the fourth. Jessica Josker led off the inning with an infield single off the leg of Turner in the circle that bounced to Smith at shortstop. Josker just beat out the throw to first. Turner then retired the side to end the inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, Castle led off with an infield single. A double to left center by Harris scored Castle from first. Soto drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Klein the reached on a fielder’s choice as Soto moved to second on a muffed throw from the shortstop as Harris scored. A double down the left field line by Hill scored Soto as Klein moved to third.
On a fielder’s choice to the shortstop, Duhon reached first as no out was recorded on the play. With the bases loaded, Roessner singled through the right side scoring Klein. With two outs, Hill scored on a sacrifice fly to left field to run the score to the final of 9-0.
Melanie Henkes took the complete-game loss to fall to 5-2 on the season. She allowed nine runs, six earned, on 11 hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
In the second game, LSU got its only run of the game in the bottom of the first. With one out, Harris reached on an infield single. With two outs, Klein singled up the middle and advanced to second on the throw. On the throw from the center fielder to third base, the throw was errant, allowing Harris to score and Klein to move to third as the Tigers took the 1-0 advantage.
LSU left the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning as Harris flied out to left field to end the inning. In the bottom of the third, the Tigers left a pair on base. In each of the next two innings, LSU left a runner on base as the Tigers stranded eight for the game.
South Carolina broke up the perfect game in the top of the third. With one out, Darcy Norem reached on a fielding error by Hofer. The pitcher then retired the next two batters to end the inning.
In the top of the fourth, the Gamecocks had their second base runner of the game reach on an error by Smith at shortstop to lead off the innings. Ashton Payne advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt to become the first South Carolina runner to reach scoring position in the series. Hofer then retired the next two batters to get out of trouble.
The first hit of the game for the Gamecocks came in the top of the fifth as Christie Hamilton recorded a one-out double to left center field. Norem and Margaret Person then struck out looking to end the inning. Hofer then retired the final six South Carolina batters in order to end the game.
LSU improved to 19-10 all-time against the Gamecocks, including a 9-3 record in Baton Rouge. The Tigers avenged a series loss to South Carolina last year as they secured at least a series win this season. LSU will go for just their third series sweep of the Gamecocks on Sunday after the Tigers took a doubleheader in 1998 and a three-game series in 2002.