BATON ROUGE – The No. 22 LSU softball team emerged with a 1-0 eight-inning victory over Penn State after dropping a tightly-contested 2-1 decision to No. 15 Michigan Saturday during day two of Tiger Classic at Tiger Park.
After the game in the locker room, the LSU (1-2) players presented head coach Beth Torina with her very own special puzzle piece to signify her first win with the Tigers.
“It was exciting and good to get the first one (win),” head coach Beth Torina said. “Hopefully, the rest of them (wins) come a little bit easier, but I know we are going to fight hard for all of them this year.
In her season debut, Rachele Fico tossed a two-hitter to secure the victory over Penn State (1-2). She retired 14 of the last 16 batters and picked up 10 strikeouts against six walks.
Ashley Langoni drew four walks to equal a program single-game record, the final one coming to open the eighth inning. A wild pitch and a PSU fielding error allowed Langoni to advance to third base.
Two batters later, Tammy Wray battled back from a 0-2 count. She worked the count full and knocked a chopper over the pitcher’s circle which allowed Langoni to score the game’s only run.
Ashley Applegate extended her hitting streak to three games with a double to left centerfield in the seventh inning. Simone Heyward made a pair of spectacular diving catches to save runs during the fourth and eighth inning, respectively.
“The defense did a phenomenal job, and they kept me in the game,” Fico said. “Simone was incredible in centerfield. She really came up big today defensively. I just wanted to keep my team in it long enough so we could come through and score.
Down 2-0 in the sixth inning to No. 15 Michigan, the Tigers mounted a comeback effort. Jacee Blades sparked the rally with a textbook bunt single down the first base line. She moved to third base on Applegate’s double to right centerfield.
Pinch hitter Dylan Supak grounded out into a fielder’s choice, and Blades was tagged out at the plate. Juliana Santos belted a RBI-single through the middle to plate Applegate to pull LSU within 2-1.
The Tigers started the seventh inning with an A.J. Andrews leadoff walk. After a Morgan Russell sacrifice bunt moved Andrews into scoring position, Wray lined out to shortstop followed by an Allison Falcon ground out to end the comeback attempt.
Michigan’s Sara Driesenga improved to 2-0 with the victory. She carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and fanned two batters.
LSU’s Brittany Mack was dealt the loss and fell to 0-2. She was tagged for 11 hits and tallied six strikeouts. It marked only the fourth time that Mack has dropped back-to-back losses in her career.
The Wolverines (3-0) jumped on the scoreboard during the first inning and parlayed Bree Evans leadoff single into the game’s first run. She advanced to third base on a Nicole Sappingfield single. Two batters later, Ashley Lane slapped a two-out, RBI-double down the left field line. Evans and Sappingfield notched three hits apiece to fuel an 11-hit attack for Michigan.
LSU wraps up opening weekend Sunday versus Louisiana Tech with first pitch is slated for 12:30 p.m., while Michigan and Penn State face off at 10 a.m.
Fans can follow every pitch of the Tiger Classic via live stats on www.LSUsports.net/livestats. Fans also can follow LSU softball using social media at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsu_softball on Twitter.
The Tiger Park Ticket Booth will open one hour prior to the first game of each day. Fans can purchase tickets on-site starting at $5 for adult general admission and $3 for youth ages 3-12. Season tickets are on-sale for $75 and additional ticket information is available at www.LSUtix.net.
LSU vs. Penn State
February 11, 2012
Head Coach Beth Torina
On her first win with LSU…
“It was exciting and good to get the first one (win). Hopefully, the rest of them (wins) come a little bit easier, but I know we are going to fight hard for all of them this year. It’s a great game and I think it’s tougher and tougher as the athletes get better and better in college softball.”
On the game winning RBI against Penn State…
“She (Tammy Wray) made a really good adjustment with two strikes. She looked down in the zone a little bit more. It was enough to win the ball game. It was nice that she continued to battle through that at-bat.”
On playing Michigan…
“I thought that we played right with them. I thought that was a really good offense, and we were able to hold them. Brittany Mack was able to battle with them the entire game. I felt like we played right with them, and it could have gone either way. We still need to have a little more on offense. We need to get a little better. I think that we cleaned the defense up from that game against Penn State. We did a much better job defensively in game two.”
On Rachele Fico against Penn State…
“I thought she was dominant in game two. I thought she was going to pitch until we scored. It didn’t matter how many innings that was, but she was going to continue to fight for us until we got that run.”
On the play of Simone Heyward…
“She did a really nice job today. The one catch [in the eighth inning] was unbelievable. She is so quick out there and makes things look easier than they are. That one really looked phenomenal.”
On playing Louisiana Tech …
“I know there are more emotions on the table than just game four of this tournament [for Louisiana Tech playing LSU]. We will come with our “A” game and show them our best. We will try to get back on the positive and get to .500 tomorrow.”
Pitcher Rachele Fico
On bouncing back against Penn State…
“Our team has a lot of fight. We weren’t discouraged. We wanted to come back and win today. We did whatever we had to do. We made adjustments and stayed in the game long enough to come through in the bottom on the eighth.”
On her performance…
“I was just trying to keep people off base. The defense did a phenomenal job and they kept me in the game. Simone Heyward was incredible in centerfield. She really came up big today defensively. I just wanted to keep my team in it long enough so we could come through and score. I knew that we were going to be able to make the adjustments. I wanted to keep them in the game so they could do that.”