PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — A walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh by Killian Roessner gave the sixth-ranked LSU softball team a split on Friday night at the Palm Springs Classic, falling to Florida Atlantic, 3-0, before defeating Pacific, 2-1.
With the split, the Tigers moved to 8-1 on the season and 1-1 in tournament play. The Owls improved to 5-6 on the year with their win and 1-1 in tournament play, while Pacific dropped to 3-8 on the season and 0-2 in tournament play.
After having the worst of luck at the plate the entire day, LSU finally got a break in a big way in the bottom of the seventh against Pacific. After a one-out double by Jazz Jackson, Roessner came to the plate with two outs. With a 1-0 count, Roessner drove a deep fly ball that remained just fair down the left field line to give LSU the win, 2-1.
“It was a strange day at the ballpark,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We hit the ball very hard in the first game with nothing to show for it. The bottom line was we were in a definite funk and not a lot of good things were happening for us. With that last swing of the bat, maybe we changed a little of our happenings. Tomorrow is a much tougher day so we’re going to have to be a whole lot sharper than we were today.”
That hit ended a day of bad karma at the plate for the Tigers. LSU hit the ball about as hard as a team can all day, but had nothing to show for it. That all changed with one timely swing of the bat in the bottom of the seventh.
Dani Hofer earned the complete game win to improve to 5-0 on the season. She allowed one unearned run on three hits with a walk while striking out 10. Chelsea Engle took the loss for Pacific to fall to 2-3 on the year. She allowed two runs on four hits with five walks and five strikeouts.
“Dani pitched her heart out,” said Girouard. “It started with Jazz in the seventh inning to set the table before Killian comes up with the big blow.”
A pitcher’s duel kept the game scoreless through the first five innings. LSU had a chance in the bottom of the first. With one out, Jackson reached on a throwing error by the shortstop and advanced to third on the play. A walk by Rachel Mitchell put runners at the corners. LSU couldn’t push the run across. The purple and gold had runners in every inning, but stranded seven through the first five innings.
Briana Santos got the first hit of the game for Pacific in the top of the second, hitting a single to left field before advancing to second on a misplay by the LSU left fielder. With one out in the top of the third, Brittany Hendrickson drew a walk for the only other base runner Pacific had until the top of the sixth.
Pacific broke the scoreless tie in the top of the sixth inning. With two outs, Alyce Jorgenson singled to left field. On a pop fly to second, Shannon Stein uncharacteristically dropped the ball, allowing Jorgenson to advance to third. Kellee Wilson the singled through the left side to put up the first run of the game.
In the bottom half of the inning, LSU threatened again. With one out, Tayl’r Hollis drew a walk. Erika Sluss then hit a fly ball to left field that was dropped, allowing Hollis to move to second. A Jessica Mouse fielder’s choice got Sluss going to second as Hollis moved to third. Shannon Stein then rocketed a ball to left field, that the left fielder made a sliding catch on to end the inning.
After Pacific went up and down in the top of the seventh, LSU came through in the bottom half of the inning to take the win. After having only two hits entering the inning, the purple and gold were able to come up with two hits in the inning that made the difference in the game.
LSU could not catch a break throughout the first game. The Tigers hit the ball on the nose, but had nothing to show for it as everything went directly to a Florida Atlantic fielder. Of the first nine outs, four were line drives that were caught, while several hard hit ground balls were fielded cleanly and resulted in an out.
“We had at-em’s disease where we hit the ball at them,” said Girouard. “We didn’t take advantage of some opportunities and Florida Atlantic did.”
Conversely, it seemed that everything the Owls touched found a hole, falling just inside the line in left field, trickling up the middle just slow enough for no play to be made or finding the gaps in left and right field. The Florida Atlantic luck led to its three runs, while Rose Gressley kept the Tiger bats at bay just long enough for the win.
Despite LSU’s bad luck, the Tigers did not go down without a fight and still had a chance to tie it up in the seventh inning. With two outs, LSU rallied to put the tying run at the plate. Hollis doubled to right center. On a walk to Erika Sluss, Hollis moved to third on a wild pitch. With runners at the corners, Jessica Mouse grounded out on a hard hit ball to shortstop to end the game.
Cody Trahan went the distance for the Tigers, falling to 2-1 on the season. The sophomore allowed three runs on nine hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. Gressley earned the complete game shutout to improve to 3-2 on the year. She allowed four hits and three walks without striking out an LSU batter.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday as LSU faces No. 23 Cal State Fullerton at 2:30 p.m. CT, before facing No. 2 Northwestern at 8 p.m. CT. The Titans split their first two tournament games, falling to Ohio State, 4-0, before winning a slugfest against Michigan State, 14-10. The Wildcats begin play late Friday night and won their first game against Oregon, before a nightcap later against San Diego State.
FAU 002 100 0 – 3 9 0
LSU 000 000 0 – 0 4 0
Rose Gressley and Brittany Walker. Cody Trahan and Killian Roessner. WP ? Gressley (3-2). LP ? Trahan (2-1). S ? None. HR ? Lauren Crandall. T ? 1:37.
Pacific 000 001 0 – 1 3 2
LSU 000 000 2 – 2 4 2
Chelsea Engle and Mandy Hickman. Dani Hofer and Killian Roessner. WP ? Hofer (5-0), LP ? Engle (2-3). S ? None. HR ? Killian Roessner. T ? 1:50.