Softball Forces Deciding Game in NCAA Regional
BATON ROUGE, La. – With their season on the line, the LSU softball team scored five runs on 11 hits and got a shutout performance from starting pitcher Carley Hoover as No. 8 LSU defeated No. 23 Arizona State 5-0 Sunday afternoon at Tiger Park.
The Tigers scored a run in the first, third and sixth, plating two in the seventh to cruise to the win, forcing a winner-take-all final game of the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.
Sahvanna Jaquish led the way going 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and run scored, while Constance Quinn went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a double. Bailey landry went 2-for-4 while Sydney Bourg went 2-for-3.
Hoover (15-5) struck out eight and scattered four hits in her third appearance of the weekend and second start, after earning the save last night in the win over Nebraska as she twirled 11 pitches in the complete game effort.
Breanna Macha (18-12) suffered the loss in her third start of the weekend, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits in 5.1 innings of work, while reliever Dale Ryndak pitched 1.2 innings and allowed two runs on three hits with a walk and a strikeout. Elizabeth Caporuscio had two of ASU’s four hits on the afternoon.
LSU opened the final scorching hot as a single to right by Andrews, followed by an infield bunt single by Landry quickly and easily put two on for the Tigers. An infield groundout advanced the two to second and third, but a strikeout put two outs on the board with LSU on the brink of missing an opportunity, but an infield single by Jaquish scored Andrews to give LSU a 1-0 lead midway through one.
The Sun Devils put together its first real threat in the bottom of the second inning, as a walk and infield single started the run, before the team was able to get its first out on a liner to second. A lengthy at-bat produced a walk for ASU to load the bases, but fortunately the next two batters went down in order to end the frame.
A walk to Andrews to open the third put one on for LSU, as another infield single by Landry put two back on for the team. Bell hit a slow chopper that went off the glove of the third baseman, resulting in an error that allowed Andrews to score, while Landry was thrown out on the play at home after as the Tigers went up 2-0.
With an out in the top of the sixth, Jaquish dropped in a single to right to reach first, with Sandra Simmons drilling one to left to put two on, ending the day for Macha’s day in favor of Ryndak. On the second pitch of her at-bat, Constance Quinn dribbled a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Jaquish to give LSU a 3-0 lead.
The Tigers produced an insurance two-out rally in the seventh, as a walk to Kellsi Kloss and a single by Jaquish put two on for LSU. Simmons was hit to load the bases, and that advancement proved key as Quinn hit a double down the right field line to drive in both Kloss and Jaquish easily to give LSU a 5-0 lead and a bit of breathing room to close the door and force the deciding second game.
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