COLLEGE STATION, Texas. – Down big, the No. 4 LSU softball team made a game of it late with a big rally, but it wouldn’t be enough in the end as the Tigers fell to the No. 11 Texas A&M Aggies 9-5 Sunday afternoon to drop the series.
Trailing by six, LSU (25-5, 3-3 Southeastern) scored four runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull within two runs, but those would be the final scores for the Tigers as the home standing Aggies (27-3, 2-1), who plated three in the first and three in the fourth, got two more in the sixth to put the game out of reach late.
Freshman and Texas native Amber Serrett was the only LSU player to earn multiple hits on the day going 2-for-3 with a run scored amid a seven hit day for the Tigers, while Constance Quinn had multiple RBIs going 1-for-3 with two driven in.
Allie Walljasper (4-3) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout in 1.2 innings pitched, as Carley Hoover came on in relief and allowed five runs, four earned, on three hits with four walks and six strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
TAMU’s Samantha Show (16-3) earned the win in the end, but made it close as she pitched 5.1 innings before being relieved for Kayla Ober (1) who earned the save by coming on with the bases loaded and getting LSU to hit into a double play to end the inning. Show allowed five runs on seven hits with five walks and two strikeouts, while Ober pitched the rest of the 1.2 innings and kept LSU off the board.
Cali Lanphear went 2-for-2 in the game with three RBIs and three runs scored, as Kristen Cuyos and Ashley Walters had two RBIs each.
Texas A&M opened the bottom of the first with a slow-rolling infield single to put a runner on. That runner was quickly put out on a force play after a fielder’s choice. Another hit to right field put two on, as it proved costly as a three-run shot gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead early.
With an out in the top of the second, Bailey Landry drew a walk to take first. After a fly out to left, Serrett singled to right to put runners at the corners. Hoping to plate a run, the inning ended with grounder to second.
Texas A&M threatened again in the bottom of the second, as an infield single and stolen base put a runner at second. Another infield single put runners at the corners, with a stolen base putting two in scoring position.
A foul out behind the plate put two outs on the board, but a walk loaded the bases and ended Walljasper’s day. Hoover came on and hit the first batter she faced to bring in run, before getting a fly out to center to end the inning with the Aggies leading 4-0.
With an out in the top of the fourth, Kellsi Kloss poked an infield single through the left side of the infield to reach, as Taylor Lockwood came in to pinch run. She stole second, as Landry earned an infield single to put runners at the corners.
Landry stole second, as Elyse Thornhill drove in Lockwood on a sacrifice fly to left to put LSU on the board down three at 4-1.
In the bottom half of the inning, an infield single put a TAMU runner at first, as that runner stole second to get into scoring position. A single to center ended up putting two in scoring position, with an infield popup registering the first out.
Three straight walks drove in a pair of runs to make it 6-1 Texas A&M, as a sacrifice fly to right brought in the final Aggie run to put the opposition up 7-1.
A walk for Kloss put the lead runner for LSU on base, but she was put out on the next play on a fielder’s choice. Thornhill was hit by a pitch moving Landry to second to put two on, as Serrett earned an infield single to load the bases for the Tigers.
Sandra Simmons went through a lengthy at-bat before ripping a single through the right side to plate a run to make it 7-2. Quinn stepped up next and laced a single through the infield to bring in two to make it a 7-4 game.
Bianka Bell didn’t wait long to strike as she ripped a single through the right side to bring in another run to make it 7-5 before TAMU went to the bullpen. The change worked as LSU hit into a double play to end the inning now just down two.
A leadoff single would lead to the Aggies going back up by three, as the runner would eventually come around on an RBI groundout to put Texas A&M up 8-5 in the bottom of the sixth. Another runner would get on via a hit by pitch, and move around before an error allowed the run to score putting the Aggies up 9-5.
LSU will be back in action on Tuesday, hosting the Nicholls Colonels at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge. The game will be streamed online on SEC Network+.
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