KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 22 LSU softball team dropped a 2-0 decision to No. 10 Tennessee during a SEC series opener Friday evening in-front of 1,514 fans at Lee Stadium.
A.J. Andrews, Ashley Langoni and Morgan Russell provided the hits for the Tigers (29-11, 11-4 SEC), but Tennessee’s (33-9, 14-6 SEC) Ellen Renfroe produced her NCAA-leading 14th shutout of the season. She notched five strikeouts versus two walks to improve her ledger to a 22-3 mark in 2012.
“It was everything we were expecting it to be,” head coach Beth Torina said. “Both teams have great pitching, and we were expecting runs to be hard to come by. In order to beat Tennessee, we have to play our best softball. There’s no doubt that tonight’s game was very far from our best softball. This team is capable of a lot more, and I’ve asked them to come back with an better answer tomorrow because our goal is to still win this series.”
Reigning SEC Player of the Week, Madison Shipman, put the Lady Vols on the scoreboard with a solo home run down the left field line during the second inning.
Tennessee tacked on an insurance run in the fifth inning. Raven Chavanne and Kat Dotson produced consecutive bunt singles, while Shipman and Sheby Burchell coaxed walks to make it 2-0.
LSU’s best opportunity to score came during the sixth inning. Andrews chopped an infield single and stole second base. It was Andrews’ team-leading 10th stolen base of the season.
Two batters later, Juliana Santos ripped a one-hopper up-the-middle that was fielded by a diving Shipman from the shortstop position. She threw from her knees to get Santos by a step and preserve the 2-0 shutout for Tennessee.
The Lady Vols have won 11 of the last 14 meetings over LSU in the series dating back to the 2008 season.
Rachele Fico had her run of seven straight wins dating back to March 16 come to a close. She notched six strikeouts but matched a career-high with six walks. The junior right-hander stranded 11 Tennessee baserunners, but fell to 14-5 on the season. In her five losses, Fico has received one total run of support.
Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. CDT 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 set to call the action.
ESPN will televise the game with Beth Mowins and Jessica Mendoza serving as the broadcast team. The game also will be available online at ESPN3.com
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.