BATON ROUGE — A complete-game one-hitter by freshman Cody Trahan in her first collegiate appearance led the fifth-ranked LSU softball team past Louisiana-Monroe, 7-0, on a cold Valentine’s Day afternoon at Tiger Park.
Playing in temperatures in the low 40’s with wind chills in the mid-30’s the Tigers were able to come away with their third shutout of the season, as they remained remain undefeated at 7-0. The loss dropped the Warhawks to 2-4 on the season.
“It’s not that much fun to play in,” LSU head coach Yvette Girouard said about the weather. “It is what it is, so you’ve just got to go out there and throw the ball, catch the ball and hit the ball.”
In her first collegiate start, Trahan had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning and was unlucky in that LSU came just short of ending the game in the fifth by way of the run rule, which would have given her the no-hitter. The Orange, Texas, native gave up a single with one out in the top of the sixth before retiring the final five batters in order.
“I’m disappointed in the effort,” said Girouard. “If the hitters would have done what they should have, then Cody would have had a no-hitter in her first appearance as a Tiger. I’m disappointed in that fact. We had some throwaway at-bats and that wasn’t good enough. We need to get better.”
With the win, Trahan improved to 1-0 on the year. In seven innings, she allowed just that one hit and three walks, while striking out nine. She faced just three over the minimum in the game.
“I think Cody was awesome,” said Girouard. “She’s thrown real well and she threw very well in the bull pen this afternoon before the game. She didn’t look like she was nervous and I knew she was going to have a good game. I didn’t know she would have this good a game, but she threw very well.”
Senior All-American Leslie Klein led LSU with a 3-for-4 performance, including her fourth double of the season that moved her into a tie for fourth in career doubles in school history with 45. Klein also added with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Junior Vanessa Soto and freshman Jazz Jackson each recorded multiple-hit games, posting 2-for-4 marks each, while Jackson scored two runs. Junior Quinlan Duhon added a pair of RBIs for the Tigers, extending her hitting streak to six games. Senior Kristen Hobbs added to her amazing week with a double, her fifth extra-base hit this year, to extend her hitting streak to five games.
LSU wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard. In the bottom of the first inning, Jazz Jackson led off with a bunt single. With one out, Jackson stole second. An RBI double to left center by Leslie Klein gave the Tigers the 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, LSU added two more runs. With one out, Tayl’r Hollis drew a walk. An infield single by Klein sent Hollis to second. Quinlan Duhon then sliced a single to left field the allowed Hollis to come around and score.
Vanessa Soto then got an infield single deep in the hole at second that loaded the bases. Kristin Hobbs, the MVP of the Easton Tiger Classic, then nailed a ball to deep center field that carried to the warning track before being caught by Calli Baker, but was deep enough to allow Klein to score from third as LSU pulled ahead, 3-0.
The following inning, the Tigers added a pair of runs with the aid of a UL-Monroe error. Killian Roessner doubled down the left field line to start the inning. With one out, Roessner advanced to third on a fly out to center field by Shannon Stein.
Jackson then beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners. On a sharply hit ball to second base by Hollis, Heather Hanson could not come up with it for the Warhawks as Roessner scored from third and Jackson moved to second.
Klein took that extra out and made UL-Monroe pay as she promptly doubled to left center, scoring Jackson from second. Duhon almost put LSU ahead by the magic number of eight, but came up just short as her fly ball to right center was caught at the wall to send the game to the fifth with the Tigers leading, 5-0.
Trahan had her bid for a no-hitter come to an end in the top of the sixth inning. After allowing a leadoff walk, Trahan gave up her first hit of the game, a single off the bat of Cary Roussel up the middle. She then struck out the next two and Roussel was put out at second on a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
LSU closed out the scoring in the game in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Dee Dee Henderson doubled down the left field line. Klein then reached on a fielding error by Roussel at shortstop, allowing Henderson to move to third. A long fly ball again by Duhon came up just short in center field, but Henderson did come home on the play.
Klein then stole second to move into scoring position. A single through the left side by Soto allowed Klein to come around and cross the plate, giving the Tigers the 7-0 advantage. In the top of the seventh, Trahan retired the Warhawks in order to close out the game.
Lindsay Rittenhouse took the compete-game loss for UL-Monroe to fall to 1-4 on the season. She allowed seven runs, four earned, on 11 hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
LSU improved to 3-0 all-time against UL-Monroe, with the Tigers sweeping a doubleheader from the Warhawks in 1998, 10-0 and 8-0, at Tiger Park in the only other meetings. LSU is also 23-3 all-time against Sun Belt Conference opponents, including a pair of wins over Middle Tennessee State last weekend.
This weekend, the Tigers travel to Houston for the Crowne Plaza Invitational. LSU will take on Houston, which knocked off nationally ranked Michigan on Sunday, along with Southern Illinois, which is receiving votes for the poll. In addition, the Tigers will face Missouri State, Texas State and Indiana in the three-day round robin tournament.