BATON ROUGE, La. – Junior pitcher Baylee Corbello struck out a season-high 11 batters in 6.2 innings of work to help the No. 4 LSU softball team to a 1-0 win and earn a doubleheader sweep of the Longwood Lancers Tuesday night at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge.
LSU (21-2) extended its winning streak to 17 games with the win against the Lancers (9-7) by scoring the only run of the game in the very first inning and holding on late to thwart Longwood rallies late to earn the second shutout of the visitors on the day.
“They have a good pitching staff. I think their numbers coming into tonight’s game shows that they have some really solid arms,” head coach Beth Torina said. “They’ve done a really good job and they’ve held other SEC teams to similar numbers.”
Corbello (5-0) tossed 113 pitches Tuesday night and worked out of a host of jams, leading to allowing just three hits to remain perfect in the circle on the season. Sophomore Carley Hoover came on in the seventh and got the final out to record her first save of the season.
“Our defense did really well, and Sahvanna Jaquish did really well behind the plate,” Corbello said.
The Tigers managed five hits in the game, led by Bailey Landry who had two. Bianka Bell drove in the game’s winning run off of a double in the first, connecting for her seventh of the season so far. Emily Griggs and Alayna Falcon had each of the other two hits for LSU on the night.
Elizabeth McCarthy (5-4) suffered her second loss in as many starts as she allowed the lone run on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts in six innings. Reliever Jenna Carnes came on and earned a walk before being replaced for McCarthy right after.
Constance Quinn was walked to put a Tiger runner on in the bottom of the first. Griggs put down the sacrifice to advance her to second, as Bell drove her in easily with a double off the wall in left center to make it 1-0 LSU.
Corbello continued to roll by getting a strikeout to open the top of the fourth inning, but a hit batter put a Lancer runner on. An error in left put two on to put some pressure on LSU with Longwood threatening, but Corbello maintained her poise by getting a strikeout and making a catch on a liner to keep it from going up the middle to end the inning with LSU still leading.
Amber Serrett got hit to reach first, as Landry put two on after a bunt single in the bottom of the fourth. After an out, Falcon came on to pinch hit, and got new life after a dropped foul ball at first and registered a hit to load the bases. Unfortunately for LSU, Serrett was forced out at home on a fielder’s choice, with a fly out to right ending the inning.
“You have to give credit to the opposing pitcher. She did a really good job of hitting her spots,” Griggs said.
Longwood opened the top of the fifth with a single to the wall in left center, with a sacrifice bunt moving the runner to second. Corbello would get a strikeout to put two outs on the board, but an illegal pitch call put the tying run at third. A walk put two on, as a stolen base put two on, but the junior reeled back for her ninth strikeout to end the inning.
Corbello was one pitch away from getting out of the game, but a double off the wall in right center put a runner on as Hoover came on to close the game out. She needed just two pitches before Bell scooped up a grounder to preserve the shutout and earn the win for the Tigers.
Game 1: LSU 4, Longwood 0
The LSU softball team scored when it needed and got a seven-inning shutout from Sydney Smith in the circle to take the first game of the doubleheader over Longwood 4-0 Tuesday night in Baton Rouge.
LSU (20-2) and Longwood (9-6) each finished with five hits in the contest, but after getting the first run of the game in the first, the Tigers would plate two more in the third and get an insurance run in the fifth to hold off the visitors and earn the victory.
Smith (5-0) kept her record spotless on the year and twirled the shutout by striking out eight and walking just one, using 108 pitches to earn the win in the circle. Longwood threatened just once midway through, but she was able to stay composed and held the Lancers at bay for much of the contest.
“I felt good out there having my team behind me knowing they were going to score runs,” Smith said. “I just focused on what I needed to work on and trusted the process.”
Sophomore Emily Griggs was the only LSU player to earn multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Bianka Bell and Bailey Landry each had doubles, as Landry, along with Amber Serrett and Kellsi Kloss each drove in a run. LSU drew seven walks in the game, as Bell was walked twice.
Emily Murphy had two of Longwood’s five hits in the game, as Elizabeth McCarthy (5-3) took the loss after giving up three runs on three hits before being replaced. Sydney Gay came on in relief and a run on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Constance Quinn drew a walk to take first base, advancing to second on an illegal pitch to open the bottom of the first. A foul out to first allowed her to tag up to move to third after the first out, as Bell earned a walk to put runners at the corners. Another illegal pitch moved the runners again as Quinn scored to make it 1-0.
Griggs led off the bottom of the third with a single up the middle to reach first, motoring her way to third after Bell ripped a double to right center to put two in scoring position. Sahvanna Jaquish earned a walk to load the bases for LSU, as Longwood changed pitchers. Serrett earned a walk and brought in Griggs to make it 2-0 Tigers, as a sacrifice fly from Kloss made it 3-0.
An infield single put one on for Longwood, as after an out another single put two on. An easy grounder back to the circle advanced the Lancer runners to second and third, but put two outs on the board. LSU would get out of the inning as Smith netted her fourth strikeout to end the inning and keep Longwood scoreless.
Bell earned a walk in the first at-bat of the fifth, advancing to second after a wild pitch. It looked like she would be left stranded there as the next two batters flew out, but Landry ripped a single up the middle for the double to score the run and put LSU up 4-0.
LSU will be back in action this weekend, opening SEC play on Friday hosting the Alabama Crimson Tide at 6 p.m. in Tiger Park.
“We’ll have to be on our best game. Alabama is a tough opponent and to play someone as good as Longwood beforehand really helps,” Griggs said.
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