CLEARWATER, Fla. — Despite a steady rain throughout the day, the 10th-ranked LSU softball team swept a pair of games, defeating Fordham, 8-3, and Oklahoma State, 2-0, on Friday at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex as part of the USF Under Armour Showcase.
With the wins, the Tigers improved to 22-4 on the season and LSU has now won 10-straight games. The Rams fell to 7-13 on the year, while the Cowgirls dropped to 13-12. The Tigers continue tournament play on Saturday against Purdue at noon CDT and South Florida at 3 p.m. CDT. All of the 20 tournament teams will then be seeded for bracket play on Sunday.
“Today was an oxymoron in anticipating sunny Florida,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “It was a miserable day to play softball, but the bottom line is we got it done. We scored enough runs to beat two opponents. Hopefully we’ll have better weather tomorrow.”
Dani Hofer earned her first complete-game shutout of the season against Oklahoma State to improve to 11-2 on the year. The junior scattered four hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. Cody Trahan earned the win in relief against Fordham to improve to 8-1 on the season. Coming on in the third, the sophomore allowed one unearned run on three hits with three strikeouts in the final four and two-thirds. Casey Faile started and allowed two runs on three hits with a strikeout in the first two and a third.
Shannon Stein led the Tigers at the plate with a 4-for-7 performance including two runs scored. Killian Roessner was 3-for-6 with two doubles, three RBIs and a runs scored. In addition, she hit her team-leading eighth home run of the season. Rachel Mitchell was 2-for-6 with a double and three RBIs.
“Cody did a good job coming on in relief and Dani did a good job in handling Oklahoma State,” said Girouard. “We got some timely hitting and good defense to earn the wins.”
Against the Rams, LSU got on the board with a manufactured run in the top of the first. Dee Dee Henderson led off with an infield single. After stealing second and third, she scored on a wild pitch to put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.
In the bottom of the second, Fordham took the lead with one swing of the bat. With one out, Megan Waldron singled to left field. Allison Storc then homered to right center, giving the Rams their only lead of the game.
LSU came back to regain the lead in the top of the fourth. Mitchell led off with a ground-rule double down the right field line. A second ground-rule double by Roessner scored Mitchell. With two outs, Faile singled to left field, allowing Shaw, pinch running for Roessner, to score and put the Tigers ahead for good.
In the top of the fifth, LSU broke the game open with three more runs. Stein led off with a single down the left field line and then moved to second on a wild pitch. After a walk to Jessica Mouse, Jazz Jackson reached on an error by the second base on a sacrifice bunt attempt, loading the bases.
Mitchell recorded her first RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Stein from third and pushing Mouse to third. Jackson then stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position. On an error by the first baseman off the bat of Roessner, Mouse scored. The third error of the inning for Fordham off the bat of Tayl’r Hollis scored Jackson from third as LSU held a commanding 6-2 lead.
The Tigers added two more in the top of the sixth to seal the victory. With one out, Stein singled to right field. A walk by Mouse put runners on first and second before a walk by Jackson loaded the bases. Mitchell came through once again with a two-RBI single through the left side to run the score to the final of 8-2.
In the nightcap against Oklahoma State, LSU once again jumped on the board in the top of the first. With one out, Jackson singled to center field. A two-out double by Roessner scored Jackson to put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.
Despite allowing seven batters to reach in the first three innings, Hofer took a no-hitter into the fourth inning before surrendering a pair singles. She then retired the final batter of the inning to end the threat. The Cowgirls got singles in the fifth and seventh, but Hofer shut down the powerful OSU offense to seal the shutout.
In the top of the sixth, Roessner hit her eighth home run of the season, extending her team-leading mark. The ball remained in fair territory down the left field line to put LSU ahead by the final of 2-0.
LSU 100 232 0 – 8 10 2
Fordham 020 010 0 – 3 6 3
Casey Faile, Cody Trahan (3) and Killian Roessner. Allison Twarowski, Juanita Gonzalez (5) and Allison Storc, Meghan Shager (5). WP ? Trahan (8-1). LP ? Twarowski (3-3). S ? None. HR ? Allison Storc. T ? 2:08.
LSU 100 001 0 – 2 6 0
OSU 000 000 0 – 0 4 1
Dani Hofer and Killian Roessner. Amanda Crabtree and Ashley Boyd. WP ? Hofer (11-2). LP ? Crabtree (7-8). S ? None. HR ? Killian Roessner. T ? 1:43. A ? 300.