BATON ROUGE, La. – In the final game of their SEC series, the No. 8 LSU Tigers battled to the end, but a two-run frame by the No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats would end up being the difference in a 2-0 loss Monday evening at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge.
In a series highlighted by pitcher’s duels, Monday’s contest lived up to be another as LSU’s (29-12, 5-10) Carley Hoover (11-5) held Kentucky (34-8, 11-4) to just two hits in the game, suffering the loss. Hoover struck out six and walked six, as she and Allie Walljasper combined allowed just nine hits and six runs in three games against UK.
“I thought both of them were very good and that is something that we are going to try and take away from the weekend and bring with us in the future,” head coach Beth Torina said. “That is probably two of the best games that Carly has thrown and she was in control throughout.”
Bianka Bell, Bailey Landry, Kellsi Kloss and Constance Quinn each provided hits in the game, as Kloss extended her hitting streak to four games.
“I think one thing we did today was we fought a lot harder,” Kloss said. “I think this game led us on the right track and I think we were a little more selfless and did our jobs a little better. It’s going to come; we just need to keep working.”
Kelsey Nunley earned the win by striking out two and walking five, keeping LSU off the bases for much of the night, and working out of a bases-loaded situation in the sixth that threatened the Wildcat lead.
Kentucky got two quick outs and nearly went down in order in the top of the first, before a single and two hit batters loaded the bases for the Wildcats. Fortunately, Hoover stayed composed and got her second strikeout of the inning to end the threat.
With an out in the top of the third, consecutive walks put two Kentucky runners on base. A fly out to left put two outs on the board, but things took a turn for the worse for LSU as an error allowed the lead runner to move from second to third, putting runners at the corners.
Another walk loaded the bases, but confusion on a time out call that was not registered by the head umpire allowed the runner at third to bolt home to put Kentucky up 1-0. A single on the next play scored another run to put the Wildcats up 2-0.
LSU finally put together a threat in the bottom of the sixth, as with one out and a runner on, a walk to Sahvanna Jaquish put two on for the Tigers. Kloss dropped a single down the right field line to load the bases, as Randi Provost came on to pinch run for Kloss.
A grounder back to the circle forced out the lead runner at home, as LSU still had an opportunity to strike, but a strikeout ended the inning, keeping LSU off of the board.
“I’m not giving up hope because obviously we have a lot of the season left,” Bell said. “I know that my team is good enough to find a way and we need to just keep working hard and plug away at it because we’re just that close.”
Hoover came on to pinch hit in the bottom of the seventh, drawing a walk as Akiya Thymes came on to pinch run. She advanced to second after an infield grounder, moving to third on a deep fly to left. Unfortunately, Nunley snagged a low grounder to keep the shot from going through the middle, making the throw to first to end the game.
“The result may look the same on the score board, but the feeling is completely different. I thought we had better at bats and executed then plan better than the past two days,” Torina said. “I am walking away from this game feeling completely better than I did the last two games, which also makes me feel that much more hopeful that we are one spark away from being great.”
LSU will be back in action on Wednesday, traveling to Hammond to take on the Southeastern Louisiana Lady Lions at 6 p.m. The game will be televised live on CST.
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