BATON ROUGE — The No. 8-ranked LSU softball team extended its winning streak to 17 games with a Southeastern Conference doubleheader sweep of No. 21 Mississippi State, 5-2 and 2-1, on Wednesday evening at Tiger Park.
With the wins, the Tigers improved to 29-4 on the year and remained perfect at 8-0 in conference play. The losses dropped the Bulldogs to 26-11 overall and 4-7 in league action. LSU has now won 17 straight, dating back to a March 1 win over Tulsa, and has won 20 of its last 21. Mississippi State snapped its four-game winning streak with the losses as the Tigers have now won eight straight over the Bulldogs.
“We definitely had the softball gods on our side tonight,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “I have to give our defense a lot of credit. We made some outstanding defensive plays that kept us in the ball game. We’ve got to work a little bit harder, because it’s about to get a whole lot tougher and I’m sure the (Florida) Gators will be ready for us.”
Quinlan Duhon led LSU at the plate on the night, going 2-for-3 in both contests for a 3-for-6 performance, including a double, RBI and a run scored. Dee Dee Henderson was 3-for-7 with an RBI and a run scored. Tayl’r Hollis led the Tigers with a pair of RBIs, one in each game.
“Quinlan Duhon had an awesome night and Dee Dee Henderson also had a nice series and came through with some timely hits,” said Girouard.
Dani Hofer earned the complete-game win in the first contest to improve to 16-2 on the year. Despite allowing a season-high eight hits, the junior allowed only two runs with two walks while striking out 12. Cody Trahan earned the win in the nightcap to improve to 10-1 on the year. Once again the Tiger pitcher allowed a season-high with 11 hits, but timely defense kept Mississippi State from scoring more than a lone first-inning run. Trahan also walked two and struck out two in the complete-game effort.
“Dani made some pitches when she needed to,” said Girouard. “Cody worked herself out of some jams and the defense came through helped her. “
LSU got on the scoreboard early in the first game. With one out and Henderson on second and Rachel Mitchell on first, the pair stole second and third to move both runners into scoring position. Henderson then scored on a sacrifice fly by Killian Roessner before Mitchell scored on an infield single by Duhon to give the Tigers the 2-0 advantage.
Mississippi State got one back in the top of the second. With two outs, Courtney Nesbit doubled to left field. A single through the left side by Jessie Spain scored Nesbit from second to cut the lead to one.
In the bottom half of the inning, LSU got the run back. Erika Sluss led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and advanced to third on a wild pitch. An infield single by Henderson scored Sluss to stretch the lead to two once again.
The Tigers added two more in the bottom of the third. Mitchell led off with a single up the middle. After a walk to Roessner put runners on first and second, Mitchell was thrown out at third on a fielder’s choice by Duhon. Hollis then singled through the left side, scoring Tiffany Shaw, who was running for Roessner, and pushed Duhon to second. A two-out infield single by Jessica Mouse loaded the bases. On a fielding error by the Bulldog third baseman, Duhon scored to push the lead to 5-1.
Mississippi State cut the lead to three in the top of the fifth. Spain led off the inning with a home run down the left field line that just remained in fair territory. In the top of the sixth, the Bulldogs had the go-ahead run at the plate with two outs after two singles and a walk loaded the bases. Hofer then struck out Chelsea Bramlett, Mississippi State’s leading hitter, to end the inning and the final Bulldog threat as LSU took the game, 5-2.
Misty Flesher started and took the loss for Mississippi State in game one to fall to 10-6 on the year. She allowed five runs, four earned, on eight hits with a walk and two strikeouts over three innings. Elizabeth Woolven came on in the fourth and gave up three hits and struck out four.
In the nightcap, Mississippi State ran its way out the game and the Tigers got some great defensive plays to earn the win. The Bulldogs got on the board first with a run in the top of the first inning. With two outs, Courtney Bures singled to center field. She then scored on a double to left center by Sammie Jo Bailey.
In the top of the second, Mississippi State had a bad base running error that put them out of the inning and kept the Bulldogs from scoring. With Nesbit on first with two outs, Nakita Boyce singled to center field. On the play, Boyce attempted to take second, but Nesbit had not tried for third. The play resulted in both runners being caught between bases and Nesbit eventually tagged out by Mouse at third to end the inning.
LSU tied the game up with a run in the bottom of the third. Shannon Stein led off with a single to center field. An infield single by Henderson pushed Stein to second. The pair moved to second and third on a ground out by Jackson. Mitchell then hit a sacrifice fly to center field that was deep enough to score Stein for the 1-1 tie.
After being part of the inning-ending play in the second inning that caught Nesbit going to third, Jackson thwarted a Mississippi State scoring attempt in the fourth. With Jessie Bailey on second after a single and a sacrifice bunt, Nesbit singled up the middle. Bailey attempted to score from second, but was gunned down at the plate on the throw from Jackson.
The Tigers took advantage and pulled ahead for good in the bottom half of the inning. Duhon led off with a double to left center. With Shaw running for her, a single through the left side by Hollis scored Shaw for what proved to be the game-winning run.
In the top of the fifth, poor base running again cost the Bulldogs. Boyce led off with an infield single. On a ball hit toward second by Bramlett, Boyce ran into Stein attempting to make a play and was ruled out for interference. Bramlett was then called out for leaving first early on a steal attempt.
Outstanding defense got LSU out of a bind in the seventh as the Tigers held on for the win. Three consecutive singles by the Bulldogs to open the inning loaded the bases with no outs. With the tying run at third and the go-ahead run in scoring position, Hollis came through with an unassisted double play. She was able to catch a line drive by Boyce and step on second base to double up pinch runner Brittany Bell. After an intentional walk was issued to Bramlett to load the bases, Ali Bainbridge grounded out to second base to end the game.
Kelsey Nurnberg took the complete-game loss for the Bulldogs in the nightcap to fall to 13-5. She allowed two runs on six hits and did not record a walk or a strikeout.
LSU leads the overall series with the Bulldogs, 33-5, and have won eight straight over Mississippi State. The Tigers are also 13-1 all-time against the Bulldogs at Tiger Park, having won six straight at home.
LSU now begins a stretch of eight straight SEC road games, including four against two of the top three teams in the nation. The Tigers will travel to face No. 3-ranked Florida in Gainesville this weekend. In the battle of the top two teams in the SEC so far this season, LSU will begin the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon CDT and conclude with a single game on Sunday at noon CDT.
The first game on Saturday will be broadcast in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM and also in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. Due to the Lady Tiger basketball team’s Sweet 16 contest, the second game of the doubleheader will not be broadcast. The radio crew will return to the air to broadcast the series finale on Sunday. In addition, all three games will have live stats available on LSUsports.net.
MSU 010 010 0 – 2 8 1
LSU 212 000 x – 5 11 1
Misty Flesher, Elizabeth Woolven and Chelsea Bramlett. Dani Hofer and Killian Roessner. WP ? Hofer (16-2). LP ? Flesher (10-6). S ? None. T ? 1:58.
MSU 100 000 0 – 1 11 2
LSU 001 100 x – 2 6 0
Kelsey Nurnberg and Chelsea Bramlett. Cody Trahan and Killian Roessner. WP ? Trahan (10-1). LP ? Nurnberg (13-5). S- None. T ? 1:24. A ? 859.