AUSTIN, Texas – The No. 18 LSU softball team lost a 2-1 decision to Texas Sunday in the championship game of the Time Warner Texas Invitational at McCombs Field.
“We had three losses all by one run this weekend, but there are a lot of positives to take out of the weekend,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “I thought the players competed hard as they could and some had to battle illness. It was a learning experience and showed our team the things we need work on to get better at. I want to thank our strong contingent of Tigers fans for their support all weekend.”
The Tigers (2-3) dented the scoreboard first in the third inning as Morgan Russell was hit-by-a-pitch with one out. Pinch runner Tiffany Shaw stole second base, advanced to third on a throwing error by Texas catcher Amy Hooks and came around to score on a Jessica Mouse RBI-single.
Kirsten Shortridge and Ashley Applegate tacked on infield singles as LSU loaded the bases. The Longhorns escaped the inning after getting Rachel Mitchell to foul out and Anissa Young to rip into a fielder’s choice.
Texas (5-0) manufactured a run in the home half of the third inning as Alexis Bennett provided a RBI-single with two outs to even the score at 1-1.
Mouse started the fifth inning for LSU with a leadoff walk and used alert base running to steal second. After pinch runner Jackie Victoriano moved to third base on a Shortridge ground ball, Applegate knocked a fly ball to right field where Texas’ Taylor Hoagland threw a one-hopper to get Victoriano at the plate to end the frame.
“We talk about primetime situations all the time with runners in scoring position,” Girouard said. “Today, we hit the ball right at Texas. They made some great plays to take us right out of some innings.”
Hoagland connected on a 1-2 pitch and cranked a solo homer over the centerfield fence to give the Longhorns a 2-1 edge. Texas turned to Blaire Luna in the bullpen for the final six outs.
Rachele Fico was tagged with the loss as the Connecticut native struck out five batters over five innings of work, while Kim Bruins picked up the win for Texas.
“Rachele is way ahead of the curve as a freshman and she’s a player that has a lot of confidence,” Girouard said. “She could easily be 3-0 right now the way she pitched and won’t lose any confidence based on what happened. I can promise you that she’s only going to get better as the season goes.”
LSU opens up an 18-game home stand and the second season of Tiger Park Wednesday against Louisiana-Monroe. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcasted live on ESPN Radio 104.5 and 104.9 FM in the Baton Rouge area. Patrick Wright and Kent Lowe are set to call all of the action. Live stats for Wednesday’s contest also are available on LSUSports.net and live in-game updates via www.twitter.com/lsu_softball.