BATON ROUGE — Leslie Klein broke the school record for career doubles as the 10th-ranked LSU swept a Southeastern Conference doubleheader from 19th-ranked Florida on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Park.
The Tigers (27-4, 4-1 SEC) will go for their third consecutive series sweep over the Gators (20-13, 2-5 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m. Once again, fans wearing pink will receive FREE admission to the game compliments of The Advocate as part of the “Think Pink” weekend to support breast cancer research. The game will also be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.
“We’ve got a chance to sweep this series for our fans,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Sometimes our fans aren’t very much of a factor for us, but they absolutely were today. They were into the ballgame and they made a difference for us.
“It was just night and day compared to last weekend,” Girouard said of the comparison to the Tigers’ play recently. “There was intensity in the dugout and our crowd was into the game. We had a great practice yesterday and I knew it was going to be a good weekend because they were just locked in and focused and having fun.”
LSU pitching stepped up in the doubleheader as the Tiger staff allowed only one run and five hits in the two games. Emily Turner earned the complete-game shutout win in the first game. She allowed only two hits and a walk while striking out six to improve to 9-3 on the year. Dani Hofer came back in the second game to earn the complete-game win. She allowed just one run on three hits with a walk and 11 strikeouts to improve to 11-1 on the season.
“The pitchers threw exceptionally well and that sets the tone and gives the team confidence,” said Girouard. “This is a team that beat Alabama, Arizona and Tennessee, so they are a quality opponent. I thought Dani threw exceptional, but just one pitch got away from her but it wasn’t anything that could hurt us. Emily is starting to get into a groove. She had a good practice yesterday and I thought she threw well today. She can be dominating but she’s not quite there yet, but she’s getting there.”
In addition to the LSU pitching coming through, the Tiger bats came alive for the first time in awhile. With her first of two doubles in the first game of the doubleheader, Klein broke Stephanie Hastings‘ LSU record of 53 career doubles and also moved into a tie with former Mississippi State Bulldog Michelle Gates for seventh place in career doubles in SEC history. For the year, Klein leads the Tigers and the SEC with 13 doubles. She finished the day 4-for-6 with an RBI, two runs scored and two stolen bases.
LSU recorded 11 runs on 18 hits in the doubleheader. In addition, Dee Dee Henderson extended her hitting streak to 14 games. She is now tied for the third longest hitting streak in school history with Stacey Newton from 1998. She is one game behind Klein and Stephanie Hill, who both recorded 15-game hitting streaks in 2004.
The Tigers also welcomed back Tayl’r Hollis, who made her return to the field after missing 15 games with a broken finger. She finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs on the day with two assists and a putout in the field.
“Klein had a phenomenal practice day yesterday,” said Girouard, “and she was pretty locked in today. When we get those three at the top rocking and rolling (Henderson, Jazz Jackson and Klein), then I think we’ve got an offense that can score runs. Quinlan (Duhon) came up with some good hits and having Tayl’r back in the lineup really sparks the team.”
The Tigers got on the board in a big way early in the first game. In the bottom of the first, Henderson led off with a single to extend her streak, but was thrown out trying to take second on the play. After Jackson reached on a fielding error by the third baseman, Klein was hit by a pitch. The pair then stole second and third to put both in scoring position.
A single to center field by Killian Roessner scored Jackson and put Klein on third. Kristen Hobbs then came up with an RBI single through the left side to score Klein and send Roessner to third as Hobbs took second on the throw to the plate. A walk to Duhon loaded the bases. Vanessa Soto then singled through the left side to score both Roessner and Hobbs to run the score to 4-0 in favor of LSU.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers added three more. Roessner led off with a single up the middle. With one out, a single off the wall in center field by Duhon moved Roessner to second. Soto then singled to left and after the ball went through the legs of Corrie Brooks, Roessner and Duhon came around to score as Soto went all the way to third. Hollis then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Soto to run the final to 7-0.
The Gators managed only two hits in the contest as Kristina Hilberth reached in the third on a slap single that barely cleared the plate and appeared to go foul. Florida got its only other hit of the game in the sixth as Kim Waleszonia led off with a single through the right side.
Stacey Stevens took the loss for the Gators to fall to 8-7 on the year. She allowed seven runs, three earned, on 10 hits with two walks and a strikeout in the complete-game effort.
In the nightcap, the game was a pitcher’s duel until the bottom of the fifth as neither pitcher had allowed more than one hit through four and a half innings. With one out in the bottom half of the fifth, Duhon doubled down the left field line. With Erika Sluss running for Duhon, Soto singled to left field to send Sluss to third. A Hollis single to right field allowed Sluss to score to put the Tigers on the board first.
In the bottom of the sixth, LSU scored three insurance runs. Henderson extended her streak in her final at-bat with a bunt single. A single by Jackson through the left side put Henderson on second. Klein then singled and moved to second as Henderson scored and Jackson took third. With two outs, Hobbs singled through the left side to score both Jackson and Klein.
Florida got its only run of the day with one out in the top of the seventh. Lacy Howard hit a home run to left field, just the second hit given up by Hofer in the contest. After Hofer gave up a second hit, she struck out Brooks to end the game.
Stacey Nelson took the loss to fall to 12-6 on the year. She allowed four runs on eight hits with six strikeouts in the complete-game effort.
Next week, the Tigers will travel for a mid-week game against Centenary in Shreveport. LSU will take on the Ladies on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Earlier in the season, the Tigers knocked off Centenary, 9-0, in five innings in the Easton Tiger Classic.
LSU returns to conference play next weekend against nationally ranked Alabama at home. The Tigers will host the second-ranked Crimson Tide in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday and concluding with a single game on Sunday.
LSU will host “Bark in the Park” and dog owners are encouraged to bring their family friendly pets to the park on a leash all weekend. The first 100 dogs will receive free LSU “Geaux Dog Geaux” collars and an extreme canine stunt dog act will perform on Saturday between the two games of the doubleheader.