BATON ROUGE — The No. 21 LSU softball team rallied from a two-run deficit to claim a 6-5 victory over No. 5 Texas A&M during day two of the Easton Tiger Classic at the new Tiger Park.
LSU’s second game against Sam Houston State was postponed due to rain with the score 0-0 in the fourth inning. The game will be restarted from the first inning Sunday after the Tigers face off against No. 5 Texas A&M at 1:15 p.m.
Ohio State will play the first two games of the day against No. 5 Texas A&M and Sam Houston State starting at 9 a.m.
Texas A&M (6-3) capitalized in the top half of the frame as Macie Morrow reached on an Anissa Young fielding error after a runner was placed on second base to start the international tiebreaker.
A Taryn Broussard single put the Aggies before Morrow scored after a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch make it 5-3.
LSU (5-3) responded with an Ashley Applegate infield single to put runners on the corner with no outs. A Jessica Mouse sacrifice bunt put the tying run into scoring position.
After a RBI-groundout by Kirsten Shortridge pulled the Tigers within a run, Jackson kept LSU alive with two outs by ripping a single through the left side to plate Applegate and deadlock the score at 5-5.
Juliana Santos reached on a fielding error and set the table for Rachel Mitchell, who smoked a ground ball up-the-middle. Second baseman Natalie Villarreal kept the ball in the infield by diving, but the ball squirted away and Jackson alertly sprinted home for the game-winning run.
“I predicted it was going to be a rollercoaster ride with this young team, but you can’t overlook the little things that we executed on to make the difference in that eighth inning,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “Apple’s infield hit, Mouse’s bunt, and Santos hustling down the line to beat that ball out. And of course, the huge hits by Jazz and Rachel to end it.”
Brittany Mack gutted out a complete-game, 176-pitch performance in her first start to improve to 2-0 on the season. She started strong by fanning eight of the first nine outs she recorded en route to a career-high 13 strikeouts and was touched up for only three earned runs.
“Mack looked like a million dollars at times and had some big strikeouts on some big pitches when she needed them,” Girouard said. “Things got away from her at times, but to her credit she refocused. Good things will happen for her. She is a workaholic and wants to succeed really bad.”
The Tigers took a 3-2 edge into the final inning after Juliana Santos belted the first home run by a LSU player at the new Tiger Park in the fifth inning.
Natalie Villarreal reached on an infield single. She moved to third base after a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch. With two outs, Holly Ridley hit a blooper that Santos dove for before contact with the ground knocked the ball out of her glove to tie the score at 3-3 and force extra innings.
LSU sprinted out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Jackson singled up-the-middle and came around to score on a Santos double. Mitchell plated Santos knocking a single to left field. Texas A&M drew even in the fourth inning on a two-out, two-run single by Villarreal.
The Tigers square off Sunday with Texas A&M followed by Sam Houston State. First pitch is slated for 1:15 p.m. as KLSU 91.1 FM will carry both games live. LSUSports.net also has live stats available.
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