Game 6: #2 Alabama def. #3 LSU, 7-4
BATON ROUGE — The 15th-ranked LSU softball had the tying run at the plate in the top of the seventh, but the late rally fell short as the Tigers lost in the Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals, 7-4, to third-ranked Alabama at Tiger Park.
With the loss, defending SEC Tournament champion LSU drops to 42-16 on the season and 1-1 in the conference tournament. The Tigers will await an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when the field of 64 is announced on Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPNU and ESPNews. The win propels the Crimson Tide into the championship game to face No. 1-ranked Florida at 12:30 p.m. Alabama now sits at 51-5 on the season and 2-0 in the tournament.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, LSU fell behind 4-2 after the Crimson Tide scored two in the third and two in the fourth. The Tigers got back to within one, 4-3, with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth. Alabama then took a four-run lead by tacking on three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
“We can sometimes match Alabama’s firepower, but we can’t stop it,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “That has been the tale of this year. We beat them three out of four last season and they beat us all four times this year. They have a very dangerous lineup and we haven’t been able to stop it.”
LSU would not go down without a fight in what could prove to be the Tigers’ final game in the old Tiger Park. The Tigers scored one to cut the lead to three and brought the tying run to the plate with two outs, but a great play by Alabama in the field and a strikeout by Kelsi Dunne sealed the win for the Crimson Tide.
“We kept battling,” said Girouard. “You wish that Quinlan’s bomb comes when she’s up the first time with people on base. We had a couple of plays here and there could have made a difference, but there is no question that Alabama is better than we are.”
Quinlan Duhon extended her hitting streak to 11-straight games, the longest of her career and tying for the longest by a Tiger this season. She finished 2-for4 with a monstrous home run and an RBI. Shannon Stein went 2-for-3 with her 12th double of the season and an RBI.
Cody Trahan started and took the loss to fall to 18-5 on the season. She allowed two runs on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts in two and two-thirds inning. Tiffany Garcia came on and gave up five runs, four earned, on four hits with five walks and a strikeout. Casey Faile closed out the game, surrendering only one hit in the final inning of work.
LSU struck first with a run in the top of the third. Jazz Jackson drew a one-out walk. Dee Dee Henderson then doubled to right center, sending Jackson to third. An RBI single by Stein scored Jackson from third to put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.
Alabama responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. With two outs, Jordan Praytor got the first of her three hits on a single to left center. Charlotte Morgan then hit a home run over the center field fence that put the Crimson Tide on top, 2-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Alabama added two more runs. With one out, Whitney Larsen hit a home run just over the fence in left field. Praytor got her second hit of the game with two outs. An intentional walk to Morgan put runners on first and second. On a ball hit by Kelly Montalvo, Rachel Mitchell committed an uncharacteristic error on a fly ball to center field, allowing Praytor to come around and score.
Heading into the sixth trailing by three, LSU rallied back to get within one. With one out, Duhon hit a huge home run to left field that easily cleared the batting cages behind the fence and bounced over West Chimes Street into the parking lot of the apartment complex. A two out single by Tayl’r Hollis kept the rally going. Hollis moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a single by Erika Sluss.
Unfortunately, Alabama got three in the bottom half of the inning. Three straight hits to start the inning plated the first run. A walk then loaded the bases. After recording the first out on a fielder’s choice play at the plate, the Crimson Tide scored the second run on a wild pitch. An RBI single by Dani Woods closed out the scoring for Alabama with the Crimson Tide ahead, 7-3.
Never a team to back down late in a game, the Tigers got a one-out double by Stein in the top of the seventh. She came around to score on an RBI single by Mitchell. A single by Duhon brought the tying run to the plate. Praytor made a great diving catch in foul territory down the left field line to record the second out before relief pitcher Kelsi Dunne won a full count battle with a strikeout of Hollis to end the game.
Morgan started and earned the win for Alabama to improve to 15-2 on the season. She allowed three runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts in five and two-thirds. Dunne came on in the sixth and gave up one run on three hits with two strikeouts in the final inning and a third to earn her fifth save of the season.
The loss in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament for LSU marks just the second time in the last nine seasons that the Tigers have failed to advance to the championship game. LSU won tournament titles a league record five times, in 1999, 2001, 2001, 2004 and 2007 and lost in the championship game in 2000, 2003 and 2006. The only other time the Tigers have not made the title game since 1999 came in 2005 when LSU fell in the third round of the then-double elimination tournament.
LSU 001 002 1 – 4 8 1
Alabama 002 203 x – 7 8 0
Cody Trahan, Tiffany Garcia (3), Casey Faile (6) and Killian Roessner. Charlotte Morgan, Kelsi Dunne and Ashley Holcombe. WP ? Morgan (15-2). LP ? Trahan (18-5). S ? Dunne (4). HR ? Quinlan Duhon, Charlotte Morgan, Whitney Larsen. T ? 2:20. A ? 1337.
Game #5: No. 1 Florida def. No. 4 Tennessee, 6-1
by Heidi Johnson
University of Florida
BATON ROUGE — The No. 1 Florida Softball team (61-2) advanced to the Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship game with a 6-1 win over the No. 14 Tennessee Lady Vols (47-14) on Friday evening in Baton Rouge, La. Florida’s win was the fourth in less than a week over the Lady Vols.
Six of the nine batters in the Gator lineup recorded hits on the night, but were led by a 3-for-4 performance from lead off batter junior Kim Waleszonia (Fontana, Calif.). She scored two runs and recorded two RBI and a double on the day. The Gators were also helped with eight walks from the Tennessee pitching staff, including two each to freshmen Aja Paculba (Wildomar, Calif.) and Megan Bush (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) and junior Ali Gardiner (Waccabuc, N.Y.).
Junior Stacey Nelson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) improved her record to 39-2 on the year with the complete game win. She scattered four Tennessee hits, while walking three and striking out five. She is now just six strikeouts from being the first Gator pitcher to record 300 or more strikeouts in a season. Rhodes took the loss for Tennessee to move to 20-9 on the season.
Tennessee got on the board first in the top of the first. Kenora Posey beat out an infield base hit to lead off the inning. After a Lillian Hammond strikeout, Posey stole second and advanced to third on a Gator throwing error. SEC Pitcher of the Year Nelson intentionally walked SEC Player of the Year Tonya Callahan to put runners at first and third. A sacrifice bunt by Shannon Doepking scored Posey from third to give the Lady Vols a 1-0 lead. Nelson struck out Tiffany Huff to end the inning without any more damage.
Florida got its first runner on base with a two out walk to Gardiner in the bottom of the first, but it was the bottom of the second that would put the Gators in the lead. Freshman Tiffany DeFelice (Coral Springs, Fla.) started a Gator rally as she drew a two-out walk on 13 pitches.
Gardiner finished with a base hit to left. Sophomore Corrie Brooks’ (Christmas, Fla.) single to left center scored DeFelice to tie the game at 1-1. Brooks advanced to second on the throw home, leaving Gator runners at second and third. Waleszonia knocked a bases clearing double to left center to add two more runs, but was thrown out at second coming back to the base after making a move to second to end the inning with the Gators leading 3-1.
The Gators got the first two runners on in the bottom of the third as freshman Paculba drew a walk from Tennessee pitcher Megan Rhodes and Gardiner knocked a base hit to left. Ashton Ward came in the game to replace Rhodes in the circle and retired the next three Gator batters to end the threat.
The Gators sat down in order in the fourth, but added another run in the bottom of the fifth. Waleszonia led off the inning with a base hit to left center. Paculba followed with another base hit. Ward threw a first pitch ball to Gardiner and was taken out in favor of the Lady Vol starter, Rhodes. Sophomore Francesca Enea (Woodland Hills, Calif.) used an 18-pitch at bat to knock a single to deep in the infield to the short stop to load the bases. Bush drew the four-pitch walk from Rhodes for an RBI and the 4-1 Gator lead.
Florida added two more runs in its final at bat for the 6-1 victory. Brooks drew a one-out walk from Rhodes. Junior Le-Net Franklin (Belton, Texas) came in to pinch run for Brooks. Waleszonia dropped a bunt single in front of the plate. Franklin was going all the way on the play, rounded second and headed to third sliding into the base safe, just before the tag was applied. The throw to third allowed Waleszonia to advance to second, putting two Gators in scoring position. A walk to Paculba loaded the bases, and a second consecutive walk, this one to Gardiner gave her an RBI as it brought in Franklin. Enea’s school record sixth sacrifice fly of the year brought in Waleszonia for the sixth and final Gator run of the game.
The Gators will be playing in their third SEC Tournament Championship and second in as many years. Tothe game in progress between No. 2 seeded Alabama and No. 3 seeded LSU at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The game will air live on Fox Regional Sports. Please check with your local cable provider for specific channel information. The game will also be broadcast live on WRUF AM 850 in Gainesville and www.WRUF.com and www.GatorZone.com.
2008 SEC Softball Tournament
Game #5 Quotes
No. 1 Florida def. No. 4 Tennessee, 6-1
Tennessee Co-Head Coach Karen Weekly
Opening statement…
“My hat goes off to Florida. They are a great team in every facet of the game: pitching, offense, and defense. They capitalized when they had runners on base, and their pitching kept us from bringing in runs.”
“Our kids battled for every out, there were just a few little things that happened here and there. The game wasn’t as lop-sided as the score might indicate.”
On the state of the team heading into Regionals…
“We definitely need to pitch by committee for the rest of the season. When we change pitchers we need three strong innings out of everyone we bring in.”
On pitching problems tonight…
“We weren’t hitting our spots, and we weren’t getting the ball down. Against Florida if you don’t hit your spots they will make you pay. We’ve got a lot of very good young pitchers who just have to learn that in this league it’s like real estate, the key is location, location, location.”
Florida Head Coach Tim Walton
Opening Statement…
“It was a great start for the team. They came out and were ready to go with the first pitch. We played good defense and Meghan Rhodes [Tennessee] pitched well. Corrie [Brooks] had a two-out RBI, Kim [Waleszonia] followed up with two run double RBIs. That was huge and got the team a little more breathing room. When we get ahead in the game, our swings change a lot. You can see how much that lead helped. They were sharp and did what they needed to do. I’m proud of our team for having the ?never say die’ mentality.”