BATON ROUGE — Three home runs by Kristen Hobbs and a no-hitter by Tiffany Garcia led the seventh-ranked LSU softball team to a pair of wins on Saturday in the Easton Tiger Classic, topping Missouri, 7-1, before run-ruling Centenary, 9-0, in five innings at Tiger Park.
The Tigers (4-0) will advance to championship play on Sunday as the tournament’s No. 1 seed and play fourth-seeded Middle Tennessee State at 9:30 a.m. Memphis will take on Missouri at 11:45 a.m. in the day’s second game. The winners will advance to the championship game at 2 p.m. The times of the bracket play games were changed due to travel plans for Middle Tennessee which forced it to play the first game of the day.
Overcoming Tommy John surgery which limited her to only five games last season, Hobbs recorded two home runs in the Tigers’ first game against Missouri and added a third in the nightcap against Centenary. Entering the day with only two career home runs in her three previous seasons at LSU, her two home run performance tied the school record for home runs in a game, a mark which has now been achieved 17 times. The senior tri-captain from Royal Palm Beach, Fla., finished the day 5-for-7 from the plate with three home runs, five RBIs and five runs scored.
“What can you say about Kristen Hobbs, except that we are so very happy for her,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Good things seem to happen to good people and she’s one of the best people I have ever come across. She’s battled injury, but she is always there for her team. I’m just so happy for her to have a day like this.”
In addition to Hobbs’ offensive performance, Jazz Jackson started her first two collegiate games and was outstanding at the plate. The freshman from Houston went 5-for-7 with three runs scored after going a perfect 4-for-4 against Missouri in the first game. Vanessa Soto recorded her second home run of the season on a grand slam against Centenary. The junior from San Diego finished the day at 2-for-7 with six RBIs.
“We seem to be a very explosive team from the plate,” said Girouard, “We challenged some people and said here’s the opportunity to play. When you earn it, you play, and those people made the most of their opportunities.”
Garcia recorded her third career no-hitter against the Ladies to improve to 1-0 on the season. The junior from LaPorte, Texas, faced only three over the minimum as she only allowed two balls to leave the infield in the game, and none after the first inning. Last season, Garcia recorded back-to-back no-hitters with a perfect game and a no-no against Grambling State and Mississippi Valley State respectively. Against Centenary on Saturday, she struck out five in the complete-game effort with three walks.
“I like all those zeros up there, especially in the error department for us,” said Girouard. “When Tiffany Garcia works ahead, she is very, very effective. She is so different from anyone else on the staff. We played some great defense behind her.”
Against Missouri to start the day, LSU got on the board in the top of the second inning. Hobbs led off the inning with a home run. With two outs, Jackson on third and Tayl’r Hollis on first, Jackson scored on a delayed double steal to give the Fighting Tigers the 2-0 lead.
An RBI single by Hobbs scored Rachel Mitchell in the third. In the following inning, LSU got and RBI single from Leslie Klein and an RBI double from Quilan Duhon to extend the lead to 5-0. Hobbs led off the fifth inning with a home run to left field. Rachel Mitchell added the seventh and final run on an RBI single that scored Shannon Stein.
Missouri’s only run of the game came in the bottom of the fifth. MU got an RBI groundout by Micaela Minner that scored Amy Henke with one out.
Emily Turner earned the complete-game win for LSU to improve to 2-0 on the season. She allowed one run on six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Jana Hainey started and took the loss for Missouri to fall to 0-1 on the year. She allowed five runs on 11 hits with a walk and two strikeouts in four innings. Jen Bruck came in and closed it out, allowing two runs on five hits with a strikeout in three innings.
In the nightcap, LSU got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the first. Soto had a two-RBI single that kicked off of the Lady first baseman, scoring Hollis and Jackson on the play. In the third, the Tigers added a third run on an RBI single by Hobbs.
LSU exploded for six runs in the fourth inning that proved to be the deciding runs of the game. With the bases loaded and two outs, Soto cranked a grand slam to deep center field that scored Klein, Hollis and Shannon Stein. The Tigers made it back-to-back jacks when Hobbs completed her home run triumvirate with a dinger that hit off the left field foul pole.
In other tournament action on Saturday, Middle Tennessee State defeated Centenary, 6-0, before Memphis topped Missouri, 9-3. Memphis topped Middle Tennessee State, 1-0, behind a no-hitter by Tiger pitcher Jenna Kubesch, in the final game of the day, as Memphis advances to bracket play as the second seed.
Easton Tiger Classic Schedule:
Sunday, February 11
9:30 a.m. No. 1 LSU vs. No. 4 Middle Tennessee State
11:45 a.m. No. 2 Memphis vs. No. 3 Missouri
2 p.m. Championship Game
Game 6: Middle Tennessee St. def. Centenary, 6-0
MIDDLE TENNESSEE DOWNS CENTENARY, 6-0, TO OPEN DAY TWO OF EASTON TIGER CLASSIC
BATON ROUGE ? Middle Tennessee State scored two runs in the first inning and four in the seventh to take care of Centenary, 6-0, in the first game on day two in the Easton Tiger Classic.
The Blue Raiders (1-2) opened the scoring on the back of a two-run home run by junior catcher Katie Mielke, and rode seven strong innings by freshman pitcher Lindsey Vander Lugt (1-1) to seal their first win of the season.
Vander Lugt pitched a complete game shutout for Middle Tennessee, striking out eight and giving up seven hits, while her counterpart in the circle, Ryan Thacker (0-2), gave up nine hits and all six runs as the Ladies fell to 0-3 on the year.
Sophomores Justine Cerda and Samantha Floyd each had multi-hit outings for the Blue Raiders, going 2-for-4 and 2-for-3 respectively, with a pair of RBIs in the seventh inning each. Floyd singled to center to score Kristine Reed and Jessica Ives, the latter crossing the plate following a throwing error by Centenary center fielder Lauren Flowers, before Cerda closed out the scoring with a single to right field that brought Ashley Cline and Floyd home safely.
Game 7: Memphis def. Missouri, 9-3
MOTT HOME RUN POWERS MEMPHIS TO 9-3 WIN OVER MISSOURI
BATON ROUGE — Memphis scored in four of its six innings at the plate en route to a comfortable 9-3 win over Missouri in the Easton Tiger Classic at Tiger Park on Saturday afternoon.
Nicki Johnson (2-0) picked up her second win of the season for Memphis (2-1), striking out six and giving up only two earned runs. Megan Dennis (0-1) started in the circle for Missouri but gave up five runs in 1.1 innings before being replaced by Alana Jacobson, who allowed four runs in four and two thirds innings of work.
Memphis was led at the plate by right fielder Leila Dolfo, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Designated player Kimberly Hayden (2-for-4), catcher Lindsay Kelso (2-for-3) and first baseman Kara Ross (3-for-4) also turned in multi-hit performances, while shortstop Heather Mott picked up a pair of RBIs on a two-run home run for the Tigers.
Game 10: Memphis def. Middle Tennessee St., 1-0
KUBESCH THROWS NO-HITTER AS MEMPHIS BLANKS MIDDLE TENNESSEE, 1-0
BATON ROUGE — Senior pitcher Jenna Kubesch threw a complete game no-hitter for Memphis as the Tigers shut out Middle Tennessee State, 1-0, in the final game on day two of the Easton Tiger Classic.
Kubesch (1-1) struck out six Blue Demon batters and walked just two as Memphis (3-1) qualified for Championship Sunday as the No. 2 seed. Sophomore Samantha Floyd (0-2) gave up five hits in 6.2 innings and took the loss for Middle Tennessee (1-3), WHICH nonetheless advanced to Sunday’s play as the No. 4 seed.
The Tigers had only put one hit on the board by the start of the fourth inning, but that changed quickly as the first three batters in the frame all reached base safely with singles. Leila Dolfo then launched a fly ball to left field that looked like it was going to give Lindsey Pridgen room to score from third, but the senior shortstop was held on base when the ball failed to carry deep enough and fell safely into Blue Demon left fielder Caitlin McLure’s glove.
McLure was not left waiting on third for long though, as the next batter up, shortstop Heather Mott, sent a fly ball deep enough down the left field line to allow her to score on a sacrifice. That was all the scoring Memphis would need as MTSU never really threatened in the game, having only one player reach scoring position in the game and none advance as far as third.