BATON ROUGE — The No. 22 LSU softball team rode an offensive wave coupled with a Brittany Mack no-hitter Saturday to dismiss Texas State 8-0 and UAB 8-3 on day two of the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge from the new Tiger Park.
The Tigers (9-4) wrapped up pool play as the No. 1 seed and open bracket play Sunday at 11:15 a.m. against UAB. Northern Iowa and Texas State face off in the 9 a.m. game. The two winners meet in the championship game at 3:45 p.m. after the consolation game.
Mack set the tone in the circle by striking out eight batters against four walks in her five innings of work against Texas State. It was the first no-hitter thrown by a LSU pitcher since Emily Turner accomplished that feat at Arkansas during the 2007 season.
LSU exploded for four runs in the opening frame to give Mack all the support she would need. Five consecutive Tigers reached base headlined by RBI-singles by Rachel Mitchell and Ashley Applegate to make it 2-0.
With two outs and runners on second and third, Morgan Russell cranked her career hit, a two-run single to centerfield, to push LSU’s lead to 4-0.
“Today was a great day for the Tigers,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “We had some great individual performances. Brittany is a show out there in the circle. On offense, we looked at some video and worked hard on some things in the cage. Kirsten [Shortridge], Jazz [Jackson] and Ashley [Applegate] all had awesome days. I’m proud of Ashley for making the most of her opportunities in the lineup.”
Kirsten Shortridge and Jazz Jackson strung together a double and a single in the fourth inning to add another run before Anissa Young ended the game in the fifth inning with a walk-off, three-run homer down the left field for the final margin of 8-0 and to secure Mack’s no-hitter.
“I just focused batter-by-batter,” Mack said. “Coming from Texas, I knew some of the girls on the other team were big hitters. It’s a great honor to contribute as a freshman and know that the coaches have confidence in me to help the team.”
Shortridge fueled LSU with a 2-for-4 performance and four RBIs in the Tigers 8-3 triumph over UAB, including the go-ahead home run in the fourth inning and a two-out, bases clearing triple in the fifth inning that the moved the Tigers ahead 7-3.
Shortridge also earned the win in the circle to even her record at 2-2. Casey Faile teamed with Mack for three innings of one-hit relief and fanned six batters.
“I don’t accept that kind of performance from me in the circle,” Shortridge said. “I did my best to pick it up [after giving up the first inning home run]. As a pitcher and hitter, I have a different perspective. It’s important to me. I take pride in this team and what I need to do to help. It really means a lot to have my teammates behind me. We are trying to make it work and build together as a team.”
Amanda Allen gave the Blazers a 2-0 edge in the first inning with a two-out homer to left field. LSU charged back to grab a 3-2 advantage in the second inning, capitalizing on a pair of Blazer errors along with a Katie Guillory a RBI-single, her first career hit during her first career at-bat as a Tiger.
UAB manufactured a run to tie the score at 3-3 on a Cameron Skates RBI-single in the fourth inning.
Live stats for both of LSU’s games Sunday will be available on LSUSports.net