HOUSTON – In the third start of her career, Meghan Patterson fired a five-inning no-hitter as the No. 18 LSU softball team rolled to a 12-0 victory over Southern Friday to open the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic at the Cougar Softball Stadium.
Patterson mowed down eight batters against four walks to toss the first no-hitter by an LSU freshman since her teammate, Brittany Mack, on Feb. 21, 2009, against Texas State to move to 3-0 on the season.
“Meghan continues to shine and kept the ball in a good location,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “She was able to work ahead in the count and is looking phenomenal for us right now in the circle.”
It marked the 33rd no-hitter in program history as Patterson’s effort comes on the heels of Rachele Fico‘s perfect game versus Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday at Tiger Park.
“It definitely was special,” Patterson said. “I threw a few [no-hitters] in high school, but it’s a completely different feeling in college. The screwball and rise were working for me.”
LSU’s offense exploded for a season-high 12 runs sparked by a pair of five-run frames in the first and fourth innings, respectively. Cassie Trosclair turned in a 2-for-2 performance with two RBIs.
The Tigers used a balance attack and also received RBIs from Jacee Blades, Alex Boulet, Lauren Houston, Juliana Santos, Tiffany Shaw, Tammy Wray and Anissa Young. It was the first career RBI for Boulet.
LSU capitalized on three Southern errors in the first inning, including back-to-back throwing errors by shortstop Shawntall Steamer to plate the game’s first two runs. Tiffany Shaw capped the frame with a RBI-single to second base to make it 5-0. It marked the sixth time in eight games that LSU has scored in the first inning.
The Tigers (8-0) added two more runs during the second inning on bases loaded RBIs from Houston [hit-by-pitch] and Trosclair [walk] to extend the LSU advantage to 7-0.
LSU struck for five additional runs in the fourth inning highlighted by RBI singles from Trosclair and Juliana Santos. Jacee Blades forced in a run on a fielder’s choice, while Alex Boulet coaxed a bases loaded walk for the final margin of 12-0.
LSU returns to action later this afternoon against Oklahoma State. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. with live stats available on LSUsports.net and fans can follow in-games updates via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.
“Oklahoma State has a very good ball club,” Girouard said. “We were able to beat them twice last season, but they came out swinging in both games. They’re very aggressive and a tested team. It will be a great early test for our squad.”