BATON ROUGE, La. – In the finale of its SEC series on Saturday the No. 7 LSU softball team produced a gritty effort, but a trio of two-run innings for the No. 1 Florida Gators would be too much for the Tigers to overcome in the end in a 6-2 loss at Tiger Park.
LSU (26-8, 3-6 Southeastern) was down by four and cut the deficit to just two in the bottom of the sixth inning, but after Florida (33-1, 8-1) scored two in the third and two in the fifth, the Gators found a way to get two more across the plate in the top of the seventh. Trailing again by four the Tigers still refused to quit, having a chance in the bottom half of the inning to make a charge before Florida shut the door in the end.
“It was nice to see our offense show up today and score a couple of runs against Florida’s amazing pitchers,” head coach Beth Torina said.
Sandra Simmons led LSU at the plate going 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored, while Amber Serrett had a double and drove in a run.
Carley Hoover (10-3) suffered the loss after giving up four runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Allie Walljasper came on in relief and pitched 2.1 innings, allowing two runs, one earned, on four hits with a walk, as she also helped her cause earning a hit in the game at the plate. Sydney Smith got two outs in the seventh against the only two batters she faced in the contest.
“We did end up figuring things out a little later in the game, but all that matters is that we build on this weekend,” Hoover said.
Kelly Barnhill (11-1) allowed two unearned runs on five hits with seven strikeouts to one walk for Florida, as Aleshia Ocasio (4) earned the save as she came on in relief with the tying run on deck and loading the bases with a walk before getting LSU to ground out to end the game on just eight pitches.
Kelsey Stewart and Nicole DeWitt of Florida combined for five of Florida’s 10 hits in the game and five of their runs scored, while Amanda Lorenz had three hits and drove in three.
A walk and single for Florida in the top of the second put two on for the visitors, as a sacrifice bunt put the first real scoring threat feet away from the plate with just one out on the board. The Gators came up fruitless in the end, as Hoover struck out the next two to end the frame.
With one out in the third, a single to short right field put one on for Florida. An infield popup put two outs on the board, but a single down the left field line put runners at second and third. A walk loaded the bases, and on the very next at-bat a single to left drove in two to put the opposition up 2-0.
After a line out to second to open the bottom of the third, Bailey Landry chopped a single through the middle of the infield defense to give the Tigers a hit. Unfortunately, a good defensive play by Florida on the next at-bat helped turn a double play to end the inning.
Back-to-back hits to open the fifth ended Hoover’s day, as Walljasper came on with runners at first and second. She fielded a sacrifice bunt to throw out the batter at first, as the runner from second came around third and slid in under the tag to score to make it 3-0 Florida. With a runner at third, a sacrifice fly brought in another to put the visitors up 4-0.
Simmons ripped a single up the middle in the first at-bat of the bottom of the fifth to reach first. Constance Quinn hit a grounder to third, but the throw for the sure out at second sailed wide, getting past second to allow Simmons to move to third on the error. Serrett hit chopper deep enough to second forcing out Quinn but allowing Simmons to score to put LSU on the board down 4-1.
“They are obviously a great team, and those are the type of teams we are going to play, but we know that we did the little things better then we have in the past,” Serrett said.
A strikeout opened the bottom of the sixth, as Walljasper came on to pinch hit and scorched a single through the middle of the infield to reach first. Griggs came on to run in her place, and moved to second after an error at third on a Sahvanna Jaquish grounder put two on.
Jaquish would be put out on a fielder’s choice grounder to short, with runners at the corners now for LSU with two outs. Simmons came through again with a single up the middle to score Griggs and cut Florida’s lead in half at 4-2.
The Gators got a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh, getting four hits in the inning as Smith came on for Walljasper during the frame with one out and got the next two batters to ground out to end the inning with Florida leading 6-2.
Serrett roped a double to the gap in left center with an out on the board in the bottom of the seventh. LSU was pushed to the brink with a strikeout, but Bell was walked to put two on for LSU to add to the pressure as Florida changed pitchers. A walk to Emily Griggs loaded the bases, but a grounder to short was the third out ending the game.
“It was a short turnaround in these three games, and it will be nice to have an off day to get the players refocused,” Torina said. “I think that having four days of practice – two days to worry about ourselves and two days to prepare for Georgia – will come at a nice time for that to happen.”
LSU will be back in action next weekend, traveling to take on the Georgia Bulldogs for a three-game SEC series in Athens.
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