OXFORD, Miss. — The ninth-ranked LSU softball team split a doubleheader, falling 2-1 in the opener before coming back to win 2-0 in nine innings in the nightcap, on Saturday afternoon at the Ole Miss Softball Complex to open Southeastern Conference play.
With the split, the Tigers moved to 23-4 on the season and 1-1 in conference play. The games moved the Rebels to 9-14 overall and 1-1 in league play. The pair will close out the three-game series on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m. The game will be broadcast in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM with live stats available on LSUsports.net.
Runs were hard to come by in the doubleheader as the pair combined for a total of five runs on the afternoon. Ole Miss took the early 2-0 lead in the first game before LSU cut the lead to 2-1. Despite out hitting Ole Miss, 5-4, the Tigers could not get the timely hit they needed to push the winning runs across. LSU stranded six runners in the game, including five in scoring position and three a third base.
The runs were equally as hard to come by in the nightcap as it took nine innings before either team was able to get on the scoreboard. In the top of the ninth, the Tigers used four hits to push two runs across for what proved to be the game winners.
“To our credit, we battled in that second game because for 15 innings we had come off the bus flatter than a pancake,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Ole Miss made all the plays they needed to and when we tried to make some things happen offensively we had “at em’s” disease.”
Emily Turner took the loss in the first game to fall to 8-3 on the year. She allowed two runs on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts in five and a third innings. Tiffany Garcia came on in relief in the sixth and struck out one in two-thirds innings.
Dani Hofer threw a complete-game shutout in the nightcap to improve to 9-1 on the season. She allowed just two hits in nine innings with no walks and eight strikeouts.
“We’ve got to find some intensity,” said Girouard. “We’ve got to find some heart and play all around better than we did today. We’ve got to pitch better in the first game. We left way too many people on base. We just have to execute and play Tiger softball.”
Ole Miss got the scoring going in the first game in the third. With one out, Lisa Conchos drew a walk. With two outs, Callahan singled to right field as Conchos moved to third base. A double to left center by Ashley Dowdy scored both Conchos and Callahan for the 2-0 Rebel lead.
After leaving three runners in scoring position, including two at third base, in the first three innings, LSU finally pushed a run across in the top of the fourth. Killian Roessner led off with a walk. A sacrifice bunt by Kristen Hobbs sent Roessner to second. She moved to third on an infield ground out by Vanessa Soto. Roessner then scored on a passed ball by Tramp behind the plate to put the Tigers within one, 2-1.
LSU had chances again in the sixth and seventh to tie it up or even take the lead, but could not come up with the timely hit. The Tigers led off with a single by Dee Dee Henderson in the sixth. She stole second before Leslie Klein drew a walk. The pair moved to second and third on a ground out by Roessner, but LSU could do nothing with it as the final two batters struck out. In the seventh, the Tigers got a two-out single, but the game ended on a line out to the shortstop.
Callahan earned the complete-game win to improve to 6-4 on the season. She allowed one unearned run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
In the second game, Ole Miss led off with a bunt single by Emily Sarver in the bottom of the first and did not have another base runner until the Sarver’s single in the bottom of the sixth. Sarver’s two base hits were the only base runners of the game for the Rebels.
The Tigers got their first base runner in the top of the second on a walk by Quinlan Duhon. She moved to second on a passed ball and advanced to third on a base hit by Hobbs. LSU did not have another base runner until Hobbs drew a walk in the top of the eighth.
LSU got all the runs it would need in the top of the ninth. With one out, Henderson reached on a bunt single. She advanced to third on a double to left field by Klein. On a wild pitch by Becky Nye, Henderson scored as Klein moved to third. Roessner then singled up the middle to score Klein to give the Tigers the 2-0 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, Hofer retired the Rebels in order to complete the win as the three Ole Miss batters recorded a fly out, a pop out and a foul out.
Nye took the loss to fall to 0-9 on the year. She allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and six strikeouts in nine innings.
LSU returns home for a mid-week game against Texas-San Antonio on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park. The Tigers will then open SEC play at home against nationally ranked Florida in a three-game series beginning on Saturday and concluding on Sunday. The Gators have knocked off a pair of No. 1-ranked teams this year when Florida defeated then No. 1 Arizona earlier in the year and No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday.