KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 16 LSU softball team notched a 3-0 victory behind a Rachele Fico six-hitter after dropping a 6-5 decision to earn a split against No. 18 Tennessee Saturday in-front of 1,541 fans at Lee Stadium.
With the victory, LSU (42-12, 20-7 SEC) locked up the No. 3 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament and recorded its 10th, 20-win season in conference play. It also snapped a five-game losing streak to Tennessee (40-12, 16-8 SEC) dating back to the 2008 season.
Sunday’s rubber game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch and will be televised live on ESPN U with Cara Capuano and Michele Smith anchoring the coverage.
“It was good to walk off the field with a victory after we felt we did some uncharacteristic things to throw that first game away,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “I’m pleased with the fight that the Tigers showed. We didn’t go away and were able to strike early in game two. Getting big hits from Courtney Hollier and Morgan Russell makes our lineup stronger.”
The Tigers used some two-out lightning to push across a pair of runs in the second inning of the game two. Juliana Santos drew a five-pitch walk and came around to score when Courtney Hollier ripped a RBI-double down the left field line. On the play at home, Hollier advanced to third and crossed the plate on a Morgan Russell RBI-single to make it 2-0.
“Juliana getting on ahead of me really helped and all I was looking for was a good pitch to drive,” Hollier said. “It really got us going and it was important for the bottom of the lineup to come through. We know we can do it and want to do anything we can to help the team.”
LSU tacked on an insurance run in the fourth inning as Anissa Young opened the frame with a leadoff single. Pinch runner Tiffany Shaw advanced to second on a wild pitch and scampered over to third base on a Santos ground ball.
After Hollier coaxed a walk, Russell lifted a sacrifice fly just shy of the left field warning track to push the Tiger advantage to 3-0. It was Russell’s fourth multi-RBI effort of the season.
Fico mowed down 12 of the first 14 batters she faced aided by 12 consecutive first-pitch strikes to start the contest. She limited the Tennessee attack, who entered the weekend with SEC’s best team batting average, to six hits and added four strikeouts against zero walks to improve to 18-4 on the season. Cat Hosfield was tagged with the loss and fell to 15-7.
“Rachele did a masterful job of controlling the hitters,” Girouard said. “She didn’t let their big hitters hurt us and I thought the defense made some amazing plays. They did some great things which don’t always show up in the box score that made a big difference.”
“It’s really important for us to take each game as it comes and not let what happened in the first game carry over,” Russell said. “We had to put it behind us. Rachele did an excellent job of moving her pitches around and keeping them down in the zone. She did an awesome job and everything she needed to do to get the win.”
The Tigers also received stellar defensive plays in the third and fifth innings to secure the shutout. With a runner on third with one out during the third inning, Jessica Mouse stabbed a one-hopper from her third base post followed by a Santos diving catch on a line drive to squash the threat.
Allison Falcon flashed the leather on a two-hopper with runners on second and third to gun down speedy Raven Chavanne to extinguish the rally in the fifth.
Tennessee fired out to a 3-0 lead after four innings of the first game. The Lady Vols executed a squeeze bunt from Tiffany Huff followed by Ashley Andrews two-run home run that stayed just inside the left field foul pole.
LSU got on the board in the fourth inning as Russell singled and was relieved by Shaw on the base paths. After a Mouse sacrifice bunt, Kirsten Shortridge slapped an infield single to put runners on the corners. Shortridge was caught stealing second, but the play allowed Shaw to pull the Tigers back to 3-1.
Tennessee made the most of a Rachel Mitchell dropped fly ball in the home half of the frame. With two outs, Shelby Burchell lifted a three-run long ball to right centerfield to extend the Lady Vols edge to 6-1.
LSU chipped away with a Mouse sacrifice fly in the sixth inning before Mitchell and Ashley Langoni pieced together back-to-back singles with one out during the seventh. That set the table for Young, who cranked a three-run dinger, to draw the Tigers within 6-5.
Ivy Renfroe regrouped with a strikeout and a foul out to end the game. She moved to 24-4 on the season, while Cody Trahan dropped to 12-3. The Little Cypress, Texas native was touched up for six runs, three earned, on five hits. She equaled a season-high with four walks against three Ks.
Sunday’s series finale will be broadcasted live on ESPN 104.5 and The X 104.9 FM in the Baton Rouge area with Patrick Wright and Matt Dunaway set to call all the action. Live stats also are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net along with in-game updates via http://twitter.com/lsu_softball.
“It’s always been a battle that goes down to the wire between LSU and Tennessee,” Girouard said. “We’d like to win the series because we haven’t been able to accomplish that in the last couple of years. The players are consumed with studying for finals so hopefully we’ll get some much-needed rest and be ready for a tough task tomorrow.”