BATON ROUGE — Despite rainy conditions, the LSU softball team swept a mid-week Southeastern Conference doubleheader from Kentucky, winning 4-0 and 8-4, on Tuesday evening at Tiger Park to take over first place overall in the SEC after moving up to No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll.
LSU has now won eight straight with the two-game sweep to improve to 37-5 overall and 12-2 in league play. The Tigers surpassed Tennessee at 11-2 to hold a half game lead over the No. 1-ranked Lady Vols in the conference standings. The Wildcats dropped to 17-16 on the year and 4-12 in SEC action.
“We weren’t on the top of our game, but we did enough to win,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “As a coach, these are the games that scare you to death. You can always get up for a team like Alabama, but this is a series that you have to push some kind of button to make the team aware of the gravity of the situation. There are a lot of land mines left on the schedule.”
Moving up one place to No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll, LSU is now one of three SEC teams ranked in the top 5 nationally. The Tigers were at No. 6 last week, but jumped one place to come in at their highest ranking since being ranked No. 5 in the NFCA/USA Today poll in the 2005 preseason poll. Tennessee remained No. 1 in the poll for the eighth consecutive week, while Alabama came in at No. 3.
After holding Kentucky off the scoreboard in the first game on only two hits, LSU fought off heavy rains in game two, giving up only a pair of two-run home runs in the contest, one of which came in the seventh inning when the Tigers held a comfortable lead. The Tigers went through both games with only one error, while the Wildcats committed seven errors, including five in game two.
“I thought we had a great defensive night,” said Girouard. “We got some great defensive stops and then got some opportune hits.”
Sophomore Tayl’r Hollis led LSU in the doubleheader from the plate, going 4-for-5 with three doubles, two RBIs, a stolen base and two runs scored. In game two, the St. Amant native recorded a pair of doubles, which tied her for third in single-game doubles in school history.
“We had different players stepping up with Tayl’r’s bat coming through and Rachel Mitchell coming up with a big blow in the first game,” said Girouard about the timely hitting of Hollis and Mitchell’s game one home run.
Senior Leslie Klein went 4-for-6 and junior Vanessa Soto was 4-for-7 in the doubleheader, as Klein belted her SEC-leading 16th double of the year with an RBI, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Soto pounded a pair of doubles to move her into second in the league with 12, while adding a team-best three RBIs and scored two runs.
Reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Emily Turner earned her fifth complete-game shutout of the season in game one. The senior All-American allowed only two hits, but walked four, while striking out six to improve to 13-4 on the season. Dani Hofer took the win in game two to move to 15-1 on the season. She allowed four runs on seven hits with three walks and struck out 12.
“It was a difficult condition to play in for the second game,” said Girouard. “Although Dani did give up two home runs, she handled Kentucky pretty well.”
With the first game scoreless in the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers got on scoreboard for the first time. With one out Hollis drew a walk. She moved to second on a single by Shannon Stein. On a double steal, Hollis took third as Stein moved to second. Dee Dee Henderson, who only has three RBIs this season, but two in the last four games, came through with an RBI infield single to give LSU the 1-0 lead.
The Tigers put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Klein led off with a single up the middle. After Klein stole second, Killian Roessner came up with an infield single. With Erika Sluss running for Roessner at first, Soto came up with a double to right center that scored Klein and Sluss. With one out, Rachel Mitchell blasted her team-leading sixth home run of the year to left center to give LSU the 4-0 win.
Amber Matousek started and took the loss for Kentucky to fall to 5-5 on the season. She allowed four runs on eight hits with a walk and three strikeouts in five and a third innings. Jennifer Young came on in relief got the final two outs of the game.
In the nightcap, the Wildcats struck first in the top of the first. Natalie Smith led off the game with an infield single. With one out, the SEC leader in home run hit one over the left field fence, just out of the reach of Jazz Jackson to put Kentucky ahead 2-0.
LSU used its power and speed to tie the game up in the bottom half of the inning. Henderson reached and advanced to second on a throwing error by the third baseman. A sacrifice bunt by Jackson sent Henderson to third. Klein drew a walk to put runners on the corners. On a delayed double steal attempt, Klein stole second and Henderson scored as the catcher bobbled the ball on the tag.
An argument ensued following the call at the plate which resulted in Wildcat head coach Eileen Schmidt being ejected from the game. With two outs, Soto came up with another timely double as she knocked in Klein from second.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers capitalized on three Kentucky errors to take the lead for good. Soto led off with a single to right field. Mitchell then reached on a fielding error by the second baseman, allowing Soto to take second. A double to center field by Hollis scored Soto as Mitchell moved to third.
On an RBI fielder’s choice by Stein, Hollis moved to third and Mitchell scored. A throwing error by the third baseman off the bat of Andrea Smith allowed Hollis to score and send Smith to second and Stein to third. With two outs, a fielding error by the shortstop off the bat of Quinlan Duhon scored Stein and sent Smith to third. Klein then singled up the middle to score Smith to put LSU ahead, 7-2.
The Tigers added their final run in the bottom of the fifth. Soto led off with a single off the pitcher. She moved to second on a ground out by Mitchell. Hollis then posted her second double of the game, which scored Soto from second to put LSU ahead, 8-2.
The Wildcats got a two-out home run by Katie Campbell in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 8-4, but Kentucky could get no closer as Hofer struck out Holly Johnson to end the game.
Former Tiger pitcher Megan Jolly started and took the loss for the Wildcats in game two. She allowed eight runs, only two of which were earned, on eight hits with a walk and a strikeout in four and a third innings. Young once again came on in relief and allowed two hits and a walk in the final inning and two-thirds.
LSU returns to action on Friday for the first two of three games against South Carolina. The Tigers will face the Gamecocks in a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 4 p.m. and conclude the series on Saturday with a single game at 1 p.m. Teams will take over the park against the Gamecocks. Local teams who are interested in more information about the weekend can contact Jenni Peters in the LSU Promotions Department at (225) 578-3917. The first 500 fans will get free LSU softball team sports backpacks.
“South Carolina is a team that is coming in here struggling,” said Girouard. “They did very well at the beginning, but are holding people really close now before giving up a big run. We can’t just cruise right now.