BATON ROUGE – Brittany Mack fired a one-hitter en route to her second consecutive complete game as the No. 25 LSU softball team claimed a 4-1 victory over No. 24 Kentucky Sunday to take the rubber contest of a weekend series in-front of 1,222 fans at Tiger Park.
“I really want to thank our loyal fans this weekend. It wasn’t too pretty at times, and they could have dumped on us real fast,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “These are our loyal fans, the people who care about our program and our kids. They were a big factor for us this weekend.”
“It all starts in the circle with Brittany Mack,” Girouard continued. “When she started throwing well, it gave our team confidence. This was a good Kentucky team, who took two out of three from Tennessee last weekend. Hopefully, this will continue.”
LSU’s (17-12, 2-6 SEC) offense was sparked by Ashley Langoni, who connected for a solo home run and finished with two RBIs. She collected RBIs during all three games of the series. Langoni was joined by Anissa Young and Tammy Wray as the 3-4-5 hitters for the Tigers went 4-for-8 on the day.
“This weekend was a big series for us, knowing that Kentucky went 2-1 against Tennessee last weekend,” Langoni said. “This win puts us back into the SEC race. We came out, played like a real team today and it showed.”
The two teams exchanged unearned runs to open the game.
LSU struck in the first inning as Juliana Santos was hit-by-a-pitch, advanced to second on a ground ball, moved to third on an illegal pitch and scored on a fielding error by UK third baseman Brittany Cervantes.
Cervantes countered with a leadoff walk for the Wildcats to start the second inning. After a sacrifice bunt and fielder’s choice sent her to third base, Cervantes crossed the plate on a throwing error by LSU catcher Lauren Houston on a failed pickoff attempt.
The Tigers charged back for a pair of runs with a two-out rally during the third inning. On a 3-2 pitch, Langoni laced a solo home run onto the left field berm to vault LSU back ahead 2-1. Young and Wray followed with a single and double, respectively, to make it 3-1.
LSU tacked on an insurance run in the fourth inning. A second Cervantes fielding error extended the frame for Langoni to coax a bases loaded walk with two outs for the final margin of 4-1.
That would be more than enough run support for Mack, who sat down 12 of the final 13 batters she faced. The lone damage was a Meagan Aull infield single in the sixth inning. She recorded five strikeouts against two walks to increase her record to 7-3 on the season.
Rachel Riley was dealt the loss for Kentucky (19-5, 5-3 SEC) and fell to 5-2. She surrendered all four runs, two earned, on five hits during her three innings of work.
“As a pitcher, you always want the ball,” Mack said. “It was great for me to come out and shut Kentucky down again. I just went in there thinking throw strikes, but don’t let Kentucky touch them. I made sure I kept them off balance with my change ups and speed.”
LSU travels to in-state foe Nicholls State on Wednesday before taking its SEC bye weekend. First pitch versus the Colonels is scheduled for 6 p.m. with live stats are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net.
Fans also can follow all the action with in-game updates via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and www.Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.
Softball Postgame Quotes
No. 25 LSU vs. No. 24 Kentucky
March 20, 2011
Head Coach Yvette Girouard
On the weekend at home…
“I really want to thank our loyal fans this weekend. It wasn’t too pretty at times, and they could have dumped on us real fast. These are our loyal fans, the people who care about our program and our kids. They were a big factor for us this weekend. It all starts in the circle with Brittany Mack. When she started throwing well, it gave our team confidence. This was a good Kentucky team who took two out of three from Tennessee last weekend. Hopefully, this will continue.”
On hitting this weekend…
“Ashley Langoni had a great weekend for us. I really challenged her before the weekend, and I’m really happy for her. Once we can get some ignition from our big hitters all at once, it sure will make life easier for our team.”
On Brittany Mack‘s pitching…
“I have said for a long time, if she’s on she’s got some nasty stuff. She was in complete control today, gave up just that one hit and I just can’t say enough about her. She wants it so bad and has been able to control a lot of that energy in a positive way.”
On the team’s feelings…
“Nobody was satisfied with what was going on. Everybody was sick to their stomach about what was happening. It’s not for lack of effort, and they never gave up. The team has stayed positive and no one quit. It was a major effort, and we needed this series. “
Left Fielder Ashley Langoni
On the weekend…
“This weekend was a big series for us, knowing that Kentucky went 2-1 against Tennessee last weekend. This win puts us back into the SEC race with all of the other teams. We came out, played like a real team today and it showed.”
On her batting…
“My first at-bat I was rolling over, so my next at bat I moved up in the box and just went with the pitch.”
On the team’s confidence…
“Our confidence is growing. From the previous weekends, you can just see that our concentration was dull. This weekend we came out with great confidence and played our best.”
Pitcher Brittany Mack
On getting the chance to pitch the third game…
“I was pleased to get this game again. As a pitcher, you always want the ball. It was great for me to come out and shut Kentucky down again.
On her approach…
“I just went in there thinking throw strikes, but don’t let Kentucky touch them. I made sure I kept them off balance with my change ups and speed.”
On her arm…
“My arm feels great. We are trying to make sure it stays healthy since I had problems with it the last two years. So far it’s working.”