BATON ROUGE — The No. 22 LSU softball team used another late inning rally to pick up a 3-2 victory in eight innings against Northern Iowa Friday evening to close out day one of the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge at the new Tiger Park.
The Tigers (7-4) played its fifth extra inning game and won for the fourth time during its last at-bat.
Ashley Langoni capped a 2-for-3 performance with a walk-off single in the eighth inning into the left centerfield gap to score Jazz Jackson, who started the frame with a leadoff single through the left side.
“We recruited Ashley because we thought she would be a phenomenal hitter for us,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “She just has to learn to breathe a little bit, be more collective and get herself under control. She started to do that a little more in her last two at-bats tonight.”
Brittany Mack recorded her third win of the season, providing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief. She entered the game with a runner on third and one out in the seventh inning. She proceeded to get a pair of ground balls to get out of the jam.
“We continue to throw Brittany into the fire and she continues to deliver,” Girouard said. “She entered the game in a 2-0 hole and got the job done.”
Trailing 2-0 in the fourth inning, LSU manufactured a run to trim to the deficit to 2-1. Juliana Santos ripped a leadoff double and moved to third base on a Rachel Mitchell ground out. She alertly came around to score a foul out by Langoni.
Kirsten Shortridge provided the equalizer for the Tigers in the fifth inning with a single up-the-middle, driving in Ashley Applegate.
Cody Trahan fired a season-best 95 pitches and fanned five batters against three walks over 6.1 innings en route to a no decision.
“Cody settled down after the first inning,” Girouard said. “We have a little way to go with her, but we saw some good things out of her tonight. Every time she steps in the circle, we try to push her a little bit further than the time before.”
Northern Iowa grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the first inning as Jen Larsen hit a two-run home run. Larsen was tagged with the loss in the circle surrendering 10 hits and three runs in 7.1 innings.
LSU continues the Purple & Gold Challenge Saturday with games against Texas State and UAB. First pitch against the Bobcats is set for 2 p.m. with live stats available for both games on LSUSports.net
Texas State tallied a 3-0 victory over UAB to open the tournament. Taylor Hall drove in 2 RBIs, while Katie Garnett and Elizabeth Dennis combined for a five-hit shutout.
“Texas State has some great wins under their belt already,” Girouard said. “They did a lot of good things this afternoon. They hit-and-run, hit the ball well and have some kids that are seasoned veterans. We will have to play really well to be successful plus we owe UAB a good game.”