BATON ROUGE, La. – On a night where the team honored a former pitching great in her return to Tiger Park in Rachele Fico before the game, the No. 1 LSU softball team got a gem of a performance in the circle from current Tiger Kelsee Selman, while the offense put up multiple runs in three of the first four innings to cruise to a 8-0 win over the No. 24 South Alabama Jaguars in five innings Tuesday night in Baton Rouge.
Looking to keep its momentum going after attaining the top spot last week, the Tigers (31-1) pounded out eight runs on an efficient seven hits to race past the Jaguars (21-7) and put the visitors in a deep hole early, as Selman flirted with both a perfect game and a no-hitter to earn her seventh win and complete game of the season, and fifth shutout, as it’s the first time that LSU has run-ruled ranked opponents in consecutive games in program history.
“That’s something we talked about before the game, they couldn’t show up with their Tuesday night effort, they have to show up with their Friday night effort to beat a team like South Alabama,” head coach Beth Torina said. “I think they did exactly what we asked them to do and they kept the pressure throughout the game.”
Offensively, LSU was led by Sahvanna Jaquish who finished the night with multiple hits going 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored. The sophomore belted her team-leading 13th home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth to put the run-rule into effect for the squad, producing one of the three extra base hits for the squad on the night.
“It’s very important to have a midweek game, especially against a ranked team. It really keeps you focused, locked in, and ready to go,” Jaquish said.
The first five batters for the Tigers earned a hit on the night, as A.J. Andrews hit her nation-leading eighth triple of the season with an RBI, while Kellsi Kloss had a double and a run scored. Bianka Bell extended her hitting streak to 13 games in the win going 1-for-3 with a run scored, while Constance Quinn drove in two on her only hit of the night.
Selman (7-0) pitched lights out for LSU even with that massive lead, striking out seven with one walk and two hits allowed on just 62 pitches tossed in the victory. She went through 2.2 innings of perfection before a walk in the third, as South Alabama got its only two hits in the fourth and fifth innings to have just three batters reach base on the evening.
“Coach Torina told us that we really have to be up and get going,” Selman said. “But that’s one thing we’re working on right now, to be as up and ready for the midweek games as we are for the weekend games.”
It was a rough outing for both Jag pitchers, as starter Farish Beard (4-2) suffered the loss after allowing seven runs, five earned, on five hits with three walks in just two innings, while replacement Kalen McGill pitched the final two allowing a run on two hits with a walk and strikeout. Beard was plagued by illegal pitches and hurt by wild ones and a passed ball allowing LSU runners to score early in the contest.
LSU opened the game with an out, but got rolling in a hurry as Bailey Landry laid down a bunt single to reach first. Bell floated a single up the middle to put two on for the Tigers, with Jaquish lacing a single to center to drive in Landry with Bell moving to third to put LSU up 1-0. Jaquish stole second to put two into scoring position for the Tigers, with the two moving up as Bell scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 and Jaquish scoring on an illegal pitch to make it 3-0.
In the very next inning, Dylan Supak led off with a walk to take first. Quinn used a sacrifice bunt to move her to second, as it looked like she would be stranded there after a fly out, but a wild pitch to advance to third paid off with a roped triple to right center by Andrews to make it 4-0 Tigers. Another wild pitch in the inning allowed Andrews to score to make it 5-0.
South Alabama had no choice but to make a change in the circle in the bottom of the third as Jaquish drew a walk, followed by Kloss who ripped one down the left field line to put two into scoring position prompting the change. It resulted in a fielder’s choice grounder by Sandra Simmons to force out Jaquish at home to put runners at the corners with one out.
Simmons stole second to put two back in scoring position for the Tigers, with another walk to Supak loading the bases for the team. Quinn waited for the pitch she wanted and got it to drill a sharp single to right center to drive in two to make it 7-0 LSU. The two advanced to second and third after a grounder by Emily Griggs, but both would be stranded after a fly out to center to end the frame.
With two outs already on the board in the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers were looking to get that run to try and cap the game early, and got it from Jaquish as she took a long 1-2 count to the flags in right center for the solo home run to put eight on the board, with LSU closing the door in the very next frame.
“I think that’s a huge key it’s just to not let them get complacent, I think that’s our biggest enemy this season,” Torina said. “Once we start thinking we are good we’re in big trouble. We’ve got to continue to push ourselves and continue to get better and I’m lucky to have a nice group of athletes that really understands the concept and they go out every practice and they push themselves and they want to be better and they challenge the person in front of them to be better and I think they are doing a great job of that.”
LSU hits the road this weekend for a key SEC series against the No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington this Friday-Sunday.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusb on Instagram.