THIBODAUX, La. – Ashley Langoni, Kailey McCasland and Dylan Supak ripped two hits apiece, scored five runs and drove home six RBIs as the LSU softball team notched an impressive 10-2 five-inning rout of Nicholls State Wednesday at Colonel Softball Complex.
“Every win for our team is important,” head coach Beth Torina said. “I thought that was the most aggressive we’ve seen our offense all season. I was really happy to see the players come out the way they did. Ashley, Dylan and Kailey all swung hard, have worked really hard in practice and deserved to have a great night.”
LSU (11-7) platted runs in four of the five innings to end a two-game losing streak. Rachele Fico picked up her the sixth win of the season. The junior right-hander tossed four innings of two-run ball on four hits. She notched six strikeouts against one walk.
Meghan Patterson pitched a spotless inning of relief highlighted by a pair of strikeouts.
“It definitely wasn’t Rachele’s best day, but she still got the win,” Torina said. “She’s been competing hard for us all season. It was nice to see Meghan look sharp and attack the hitters during her inning of relief.”
Langoni and Supak struck for back-to-back home runs with two outs in the first inning to vault LSU to a quick 3-0 lead. For Langoni, it was her team-leading third dinger of the season, while Supak smacked her first career longball.
Nicholls (4-16) got on the scoreboard during the second inning. Kat Angeles knocked a single to right field and stole second. Three batters later, Leah Andrus cranked a RBI single to make it 3-1.
LSU fired back with a run in the third inning as Langoni tallied her third RBI of the game on a single up the middle to push the advantage back to 4-1.
Nicholls responded during the home half of the frame on an Ashley Ray solo home run to draw back to 4-2. Ray finished with two of the four Colonel hits.
Once again, LSU replied with a run in the fourth inning. Lauren Houston was hit-by-a-pitch and advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch. On a 1-0 offering, Ashleigh Kuhn laced a RBI double to centerfield to place LSU ahead, 5-2.
The Tigers exploded for five runs and batted around the lineup during the fifth inning. A.J. Andrews and Langoni drew walks, while Allison Falcon reached on a fielder’s choice to load the bases. It was Falcon’s first game back after missing an eight-game stretch due to injury.
Supak, McCasland and Heidi Pizer laced RBI singles. Kuhn tacked on another run on a RBI groundout for the final margin of 10-2.
“Allison was a little rusty after being out for so long,” Torina said. “She just needs to get more at-bats, and she’ll get back into the swing of things very quickly. I thought Kuhn did a great job, she’s been another one that has been working hard in practice. I thought she deserved the start and definitely made the most of her opportunity.”
LSU returns home Friday to face Mississippi Valley State and Troy as part of the Purple & Gold Challenge at Tiger Park. Friday’s first pitch is slated for 5 p.m.
Follow every pitch of LSU softball this season via live stats on www.LSUsports.net/livestats. Fans also can receive live in-game updates on LSU softball’s social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsu_softball on Twitter.