STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 11 LSU softball team would plate the first two runs of the game, but the home standing Mississippi State Bulldogs would respond by scoring seven unanswered over the course of the next four innings in defeating the Tigers 7-2 Friday evening in Starkville.
LSU (30-13, 5-11 Southeastern) fought hard early but struggled late in being held to four total hits in the contest, while Mississippi State (23-18, 3-10) scored four in the second inning alone to take the lead and hold off LSU in the end with seven hits.
“I think we made too many mistakes today, and let things snowball and get out of control,” head coach Beth Torina said. “I think we need to start with good pitching and solid defense, giving our offense a better chance to work.”
Emily Griggs, Kellsi Kloss, Bailey Landry and Allie Walljasper had the hits for LSU, as Kloss had an RBI and a double, while Landry had a triple with a run scored.
Carley Hoover (11-6) suffered the loss allowing seven runs, six earned, on seven hits, walking three and striking out one in three innings of work. Sydney Smith came on midway through and pitched the final three innings, shutting out the Bulldogs the rest of the way and striking out three.
Alexis Silkwood (3-5) earned the win as she went the distance allowing two runs, one earned, with five strikeouts and a walk. Caroline Seitz was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, while Kayla Winkfield went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
With an out on the board in the opening frame, Landry stepped up and laced the triple to left, rolling all the way to the wall to put a Tiger runner in scoring position. On the next play, Landry would bolt home on a grounder to short, as the throw went wide putting LSU up 1-0.
Now on base, Bianka Bell would move two bases due to wild pitches, as Sahvanna Jaquish earned a walk to put runners at the corners. Kloss fought deep into the count and drilled one high to left for the sacrifice fly as Bell came in to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Mississippi State followed nearly the same script, as with an out in the bottom half of the frame a triple to left center put a Bulldog runner in scoring position. An out to right kept the runner at bay, but a deeper fly to center allowed the runner to come in on the sacrifice fly to make it 2-1.
A single to right opened the Bulldog second, as a single and an error put runners at second and third for the home side with no outs. A strange play loaded the bases as LSU tried to get the lead runner who broke for home on a fielder’s choice, as a walk brought in a run to make it 2-2. Mississippi State would plate three more runs in the frame to take a 5-2 lead.
The Bulldogs would increase their lead by two as a two-RBI double put Mississippi State up 7-2, ending Hoover’s day as Smith came on in relief in the bottom of the fourth.
First pitch for game two is set for 7 p.m. CT Saturday at Nusz Park, televised live on SEC Network with Pam Ward and Cheri Kempf.
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