BATON ROUGE — A near no-hitter by Dani Hofer and home runs by Killian Roessner and Casey Faile gave the 12th-ranked LSU softball team the three-game Southeastern Conference series sweep of No. 16 Georgia, 5-2, on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Park.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 19-4 on the season and 3-0 in league play. The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 19-8 overall and 0-3 in conference action. LSU’s three-game sweep marked the first time the Tigers had taken a three-game series or swept a series from Georgia since 2002 when LSU took all three games in Baton Rouge.
“I’m really pleased with the sweep this weekend,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Georgia has been a thorn in our sides and we wanted revenge. We had a mindset that we were going to war this weekend and that’s exactly how we approached the series. We battled and we fought and we got the sweep. It’s a great way to start off the SEC schedule.”
For the second straight day, Hofer came out and held the potent Bulldog offense in check. The junior took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before a bloop single to center field by Jennie Auger ended the no-hit bid. A throwing error with two outs allowed a pair of runs to score to end the shutout bid in the seventh as well.
However, Hofer did earn the complete-game win to improve to 10-2 on the season. The Safety Harbor, Fla., native allowed two unearned runs on the lone seventh-inning single with seven walks and nine strikeouts. In the top of the seventh with LSU leading 5-2 and Georgia runners on first and third, Hofer struck out the potential tying run, Megan Wiggins, looking to end the game.
“We really challenged our pitchers to do a better job and they absolutely did,” said Girouard. “They were dominating and in control. When they do that, they give the rest of the team a lot of confidence and they can swing the bats more freely.”
Kate Gaskill started in the circle for the Bulldogs and had a no-hitter going through three and two-thirds innings. Rachel Mitchell tagged Gaskill for her first hit with a double to right center field, her fifth double of the season. Roessner then put the Tigers ahead with a two-run home run to left field. With her team-leading sixth home run of the season, the senior All-American catcher put LSU ahead, 2-0.
“Their pitcher started out on fire,” said Girouard. “She finished the game yesterday and kind of handled us and came out well again today. We could see that she was starting to wear out and we knew we needed to take advantage of the pitches that were coming in flat. We knew that sooner or later we would be able to take advantage of it and we did.”
The Tigers continued to tag Gaskill in the bottom of the fifth. Erika Sluss led off the inning with a single to left field. With Tiffany Shaw running for Sluss, Shaw advanced to third on a single to left center by Shannon Stein. Freshman Casey Faile then came to the plate with two on and posted her second home run of the season. The three-run shot to left field proved to game winner as LSU pulled ahead, 5-0.
Georgia used seven walks by Hofer to threaten in the game, but the junior pitcher was able to keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard until the seventh. In the top of the first, two walks and a fielder’s choice put runners at the corners before Hofer retired Melissa Wood to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, Georgia again stranded a runner in scoring position. Sojourner Moody reached on a muffed catch by Stein on a bunt play covering first. A walk to Alisa Goler then moved the speedy Moody to second. With no outs, Hofer retired the next three Bulldog batters in order to get out of the threat once again.
In the top of the seventh, Hofer retired the first batter on a strikeout swinging. Auger then singled to center field before Hofer retired the next batter looking. With two outs, the hurler walked back-to-back Georgia runners to load the bases. Goler then came to the plate and hit a ball to shortstop, but on a close play at second, the ball sailed into right field, allowing Auger and Victoria Sanders to score and end the shutout. Hofer then struck out Wiggins to end the game.
LSU returns to action at home on Tuesday as the Tigers host Troy at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park. The game will be broadcast on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37. It also marks the first broadcast this season for the LSU Sports Radio Network. The game can be heard on 104.5/104.9 FM.
Georgia 000 000 2 – 2 1 0
LSU 000 230 x – 5 5 3
Kate Gaskill, Norie Glazebrook (5) and Melissa Wood. Dani Hofer and Killian Roessner. WP ? Hofer (10-2). LP ? Gaskill (8-3). S ? None. HR ? Killian Roessner, Casey Faile. T ? 1:47. A ? 756.