BATON ROUGE – A.J. Andrews, Ashley Langoni and Juliana Santos each collected two hits and a pair of RBIs as the LSU softball team cruised to a 9-1 five-inning victory over Arkansas Saturday in-front of season’s best 1,421 fans at Tiger Park.
LSU (26-8, 9-1 SEC) racked up 11 hits, and all nine players in the starting lineup reached base. The Tigers also extended their season-long winning streak to 10 consecutive games and have won 15 of the last 16 meetings versus Arkansas (18-15, 2-11 SEC)
“That was a great job for us,” head coach Beth Torina said. “I thought all the way around it was a fantastic effort. Both on the mound and offensively – that was one of the best I’ve seen them. It was one of the best we’ve seen them offensively all season, and we can expect that from them because they are capable of putting up those numbers.”
Brittany Mack posted seven strikeouts against one walk and won her ninth straight decision to improve to 12-4 on the season. The senior right-hander was touched up for one run on three hits. She pounded the strike zone early and often en route to 14-of-20 first pitch strikes.
LSU came out clicking on all cylinders out of the gate and posted three first-inning runs. Jacee Blades and Langoni strung together back-to-back singles, while Santos crushed a RBI double into the left centerfield gap to give LSU a 1-0 edge.
Allison Falcon smashed a RBI single to left field which platted Langoni. A throwing error by Arkansas left fielder Jennifer Falcon enabled Santos to scamper home to make it 3-0.
“Of course, we wanted to come out and prove a point today,” Santos said. “We had a lot of opportunities yesterday, and we just weren’t able to capitalize on them. We hit fairly decent yesterday, we just didn’t get the timely hits. The coaching staff just put emphasis on that today. We just came out swinging, and I think you would agree with me that everybody got it done today.”
Arkansas scored its lone run during the third inning on an Amanda Guile two-out, RBI single to draw back to 3-1. The run ended LSU’s program record streak of five consecutive SEC shutouts. It also was the first earned run allowed by the Tigers during a 56.1 innings stretch dating back to the Mississippi State series opener on March 16.
LSU fired back with three-run fourth and fifth innings for the final margin of 9-1.
Tammy Wray opened the fourth with a leadoff single. Pinch runner Alex Boulet used aggressive base running to scoot all the way into third base on an Ashleigh Kuhn sacrifice bunt. Andrews, Langoni and Santos tacked on RBI hits to vault the Tigers to a 6-1 advantage.
The Tigers loaded the bases to start the fifth inning after an Ashley Applegate single, a Lauren Houston hit batsman and a Kuhn walk. Andrews laced a RBI single to left field, while Houston scored via a wild pitch to push the LSU edge to 8-1. Consecutive walks to Blades and Langoni capped the 9-1 win.
Arkansas’ Chelsea Cohen was tagged for six runs on nine hits in four-plus frames. She fell to 11-11 for the season.
“When they hit, they definitely hit in big bunches and big numbers – you can see that in our innings, we score a lot of runs at one time,” Torina said. “It’s definitely a mentality, and today we definitely had that confident mentality.”
The series finale is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. with live video, live audio and live stats inside the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. The game also will be carried live Country Legends 104.9 FM in the Baton Rouge area with Patrick Wright and Kent Lowe set to call the action.
Fans also can follow every pitch of LSU softball this season via live in-game updates on LSU softball’s social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsu_softball on Twitter.
The Tiger Park Ticket Booth will open 90 minutes prior to first pitch. Fans can purchase tickets on-site starting at $5 for adult general admission and $3 for youth ages 3-12. Tickets also are available online at www.LSUtix.net.
Sunday’s game is one of most anticipated events each season at Tiger Park where fans can enjoy the ball game with their furry friends as part of “Bark in the Park”. There will be dog-themed contests and prize packs.
All dogs are required to be on a leash at all times and not allowed to go into the seating areas. There will be a “Canine Cabana” located in section 206 on the third base side concourse.
YELP! Baton Rouge, a non-profit animal welfare organization that is committed to ending euthanasia of healthy and treatable companion animals in the Greater Baton Rouge area, will be bringing five dogs for adoption for a nominal fee. All dogs up for adoption have had all of their shots and are either spade/neutered. YELP! Baton Rouge has been responsible for 1,000 adoptions to date since Fall 2009.
As part of Brittany Mack‘s “Geaux Play” initiative, LSU softball is encouraging fans to share the gift of sports with special needs children. Fans can donate new or gently used sports equipment during the remaining LSU softball home games at Tiger Park. For more information, visit www.LSUsports.net/geauxplay.
All items collected will be given directly to the Miracle League Association and six local schools that Mack will visit during the season. At LSU’s series finale versus Ole Miss on April 22, Mack will invite all the children to the game as her special VIP guests for “Geaux Play” day at Tiger Park.
Season ticket holders will have their tickets scanned upon entrance to Tiger Park. The LSU Athletics Ticket Office urges season ticket holders to be cautious when separating their bar-coded tickets. The barcode must be attached to the ticket when arriving at the gate. If the barcode detaches, season ticket holders must stop by the LSU Athletics Ticket Office on the first floor of the Athletics/Administration Building for a reprint of their tickets.
Softball Postgame Quotes
LSU vs. Arkansas – March 31, 2012
Head Coach Beth Torina
On getting the win and extending the winning streak…
“That was a great job for us. I thought all the way around it was a fantastic effort. Both on the mound and offensively – that was one of the best I’ve seen them. It was one of the best we’ve seen them offensively all season, and we can expect that from them because they are capable of putting up those numbers.”
On eight of the nine hitters getting hits today…
“When they hit, they definitely hit in big bunches and big numbers – you can see that in our innings, we score a lot of runs at one time. It’s definitely a mentality, and today we definitely had that confident mentality.”
On Brittany Mack‘s performance…
“We were disappointed to give up that one run, we wanted to keep that shutout streak going. It was great streak between the two of them [pitchers Rachele Fico and Brittany Mack]. But things happen, but she worked her way out of it. Brittany still had a ton of strikeouts and did a great job of keeping their offense in-check.”
On what needs to happen to complete the sweep tomorrow…
“I would expect to see a different pitcher tomorrow so we definitely need to get some more information. We’ll try and make the adjustment offensively like we were today – try and group things together and just try and be confident.”
Shortstop Juliana Santos
On getting the win and extending the winning streak…
“Of course, we wanted to come out and prove a point today. We had a lot of opportunities yesterday, and we just weren’t able to capitalize on them. We hit fairly decent yesterday, we just didn’t get the timely hits. The coaching staff just put emphasis on that today. We just came out swinging, and I think you would agree with me that everybody got it done today.”
On the top of the lineup setting the table …
“A.J. [Andrews] stepped up big time today. Simone [Heyward] was initially out there and then got hurt. So A.J. [Andrews] had to come out there as a freshman and stepped it up. Then, the opportunity just kind of presented itself for Jacee [Blades]. She stepped up and took the designated player spot. Both of them are doing awesome. There’s so many good things I could say about them. It helps [Ashley] Langoni and I to have people on-base consistently.”
On wanting to step up after Ashley Langoni gets intentionally walked…
“Right now, I definitely have to focus a little bit better because I know that that’s going to happen a lot more going forward, not just this weekend. Ashley [Langoni] is awesome. If they can take the bat out of her hands, the other team is going to. I’m just going to have to bear down and make it happen, that’s all there is to it.”
On what needs to happen to complete the sweep tomorrow…
“We just need to keep playing our game. We’re playing a lot better defensively. We just need to trust in the process. Just keep working hard, keep trusting our coaches and just buy in. It’s great to have everyone on board, and I think that we’re going to go really far this year if we continue to play the way we’re playing.”