AUBURN, Ala. — The long ball leads the sixth-ranked LSU softball team to the Southeastern Conference series sweep of Auburn with a 5-2 win over Auburn on Sunday at Jane B. Moore Field.
The purple and gold improved to 35-5 overall and 10-2 in conference play as LSU remained two games ahead of Alabama in the loss column to lead the Western Division. AU dropped to 17-22 on the season and 6-10 in league action. The series sweep was the second of the year for LSU, who also swept nationally ranked Florida two weeks ago.
“This was a great sweep for us,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “It’s always hard to be a team three times. We had a great weekend overall.”
The purple and gold had two home runs in the game, with Leslie Klein and Tayl’r Hollis each hitting two-run shots, to score four of their five runs. Taking into account Rachel Mitchell‘s game winning home run on Saturday, LSU scored seven of its final nine runs of the series off the home run.
Dani Hofer earned the win in relief to improve to 14-1 on the year. She allowed just a two-run runs on a home run with five hits and four walks while striking out nine. Hofer came on in second in relief of Emily Turner, who started and pitched one inning. She allowed two hits and a walk.
“The kids were locked in and Dani did a great job when she came on,” said Girouard. “She shut them down except for their one big hit.”
With two outs in the top of the third, Dee Dee Henderson and Jazz Jackson recorded back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners. Henderson then came around to score on a passed ball by Tatiana Fernandez. Klein then came up with her fifth home run of the season, pounding an opposite field shot over the left field fence to give LSU the 3-0 lead. It was the 28th home run of Klein’s career, putting her in sole possession of second place on the all-time Tiger home run list and just three behind Julie Wiese’s school record of 31.
In the top of the fourth and Vanessa Soto on first after a single to left center, Hollis hit her second home run of the year on a shot to center field. The two-run shot extended LSU’s lead to 5-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Auburn led off with a single by Fernandez. With one out, Ghezzi hit a home run to right field. For the weekend, AU scored three runs, all of which came off of home runs. Auburn then had the tying run at the plate with two outs before Hofer struck out Lindsey Harrelson to end the inning.
AU had the tying run on first in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Auburn got a walk and a single to bring Ghezzi to the plate. Hofer walked her to load the bases and bring Taryn Gray to the plate. Hofer then recorded her ninth strikeout of the game to end the threat and seal the win.
The purple and gold improved to 32-19 overall against Auburn and have won five of the last six. It marked the fifth series sweep over AU for LSU but the first for the purple and gold since 2003.
LSU returns home to host five SEC games next week. The Tigers will host Kentucky in a mid-week doubleheader on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Both games will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37. LSU will then take on South Carolina in a three-game series. The Tigers will face the Gamecocks in a doubleheader on Friday starting at 4 p.m. before concluding the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
LSU 003 200 0 – 5 6 0
Auburn 000 002 0 – 2 6 0
Emily Turner, Dani Hofer (2) and Killian Roessner, Kristen Hobbs (5). Brittany Day, Holly Currie (4) and Tatiana Fernandez. WP ? Hofer (14-1). LP ? Day (0-2). S ? None. HR ? Leslie Klein, Tayl’r Hollis, Sara Ghezzi. T ? 2:04. A ? 322.