TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24 LSU softball used a solid effort in all three phases of the game to even the series and pick up a hard-fought 3-2 victory over No. 2 Alabama Saturday in front of a Rhoads Stadium record crowd of 3,521 spectators.
The Tigers (29-9, 11-2 SEC) ended a 13-game regular season winning streak by the home team in the series dating back to the 2007 season and drew even with Alabama (36-2, 13-2 SEC) in the loss column at the top of the SEC Western Division standings.
LSU has won four of the last five meetings with the Crimson Tide. It also marked the Tigers first win in Tuscaloosa since a 3-2 decision on April 15, 2006. Alabama was dealt just their second loss of the season joining a 5-2 setback against then-No. 11 Tennessee on March 21.
“This was definitely one of our best games from start to finish that we’ve played all season,” head coach Beth Torina said. “Of course to beat a great team like Alabama, that’s the type of effort you have to play with for seven innings. It was huge for us to play ahead in such a hostile environment. When we’ve been able to jump on the scoreboard early, it puts us in a great mindset for the rest of the game.”
In the circle, Rachele Fico grinded her way to the complete game victory. The junior right-hander was just touched up for a quartet of hits and both of Alabama’s runs came via solo home runs. She notched nine strikeouts versus three walks and improved to 14-4 on the season.
“Rachele definitely got better as the game wore on,” Torina said. “She made the necessary adjustments according to things Alabama was hitting early in the game. I believe the ability to continue to give them different looks was the key to her magnificent pitching performance.”
Ashley Langoni vaulted the Tigers ahead by a 2-0 margin during the first inning and cranked a two-run shot that sailed over the fence down the left field line. It was Langoni’s team-leading sixth dinger of the season and 29th career homer which puts her one away from tying Quinlan Duhon (2005-08) for fourth place on LSU’s all-time list.
The Tigers held Alabama without a run in the home half of the frame aided by catcher Morgan Russell, who threw out Jennifer Fenton attempting to steal second base. It marked the first time Fenton was mowed down on the base paths since March 13, 2010, a span of a NCAA-record 74 consecutive steals.
The Crimson Tide was able to cut the advantage down to 2-1 after an Amanda Locke first-pitch, solo home run with one out in the second inning.
LSU responded right back with a two-out rally during the third inning. Langoni and Juliana Santos worked their way to consecutive walks to set the table for Allison Falcon. On a 2-2 offering, Falcon smoked a RBI single into left centerfield to put the Tigers up 3-1.
Alabama answered with a Fenton solo shot to straight-away centerfield with two outs in the third inning to make it 3-2.
“After allowing the two home runs, I knew I had to bear down,” Fico said. “My teammates were working so hard for me. I needed to make my pitches sharper and start generating some swings-and-misses. Coach Torina talked me threw it and really helped me get my mindset back on-track.”
Fico worked her way out of trouble and stranded runners during the fourth, fifth and sixth stanzas. She recorded six of her nine Ks over the final three inning highlighted by striking out the side in the fifth.
Alabama’s bid to even the score during the seventh inning came up empty. On a 0-1 pitch, Jackie Traina hit a towering shot that went foul down the left field line. Four pitches later, Fico registered a strikeout of Traina for the second out of the inning.
Kaila Braud’s chopping bunt attempt was fielded by third baseman Tammy Wray, who fired a strike to Falcon covering the first base to get the speedy Braud by a step for the final out of the game.
“This was a huge win for us,” Fico said. “We did everything that we had to do and played Tiger softball. As soon as I saw the ball hit to Tammy, I knew we were going to get the out. I’m so confident in her ability to play defensively at third base. She has such great, quick hands and possesses one of the best arms on the team so I knew that if she fielded the ball cleanly, she was going to throw Braud out.”
The Crimson Tide’s Leslie Jury was tagged with the loss and fell to 10-2 for the season. She yielded three runs on three hits in her 3.1 innings of work.
The rubber game of the series is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. with 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 Matt Dunaway set to call the action.
The series finale will be televised on Fox Sports Network along with ESPN3.com. Dave Baker and Cheri Kempf will serve as the announcing team.
Fans 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.