BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 14 LSU softball team opened the scoring in the second inning and plated runs in the next three after that to cruise to a 7-2 series opening win over the South Carolina Gamecocks Friday in Baton Rouge.
LSU (34-13, 8-11 Southeastern) pushed its winning streak to four games as the Tigers produced all seven runs on nine hits, while pitcher Carley Hoover (13-6) held the Gamecocks (32-14, 5-11) to just two hits in the complete-game victory in the circle. The team was able to get the hits when it counted with runners in scoring position, something that had plagued the club in recent weeks and was a point of emphasis in practice this past week.
“We have worked quite a bit on getting productive outs. We call it doing your job. That is one thing we have changed and went back to enforcing that in practice,” head coach Beth Torina said. “The result of doing our jobs put more runners in scoring positon versus just first and second. We are scoring in larger groups, and that is what we working on.”
Sahvanna Jaquish was one of two players to earn multiple hits on the day, going 2-for4 with a double and three RBIs. Sandra Simmons was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Also driving in multiple runs on the day was Emily Griggs with two RBIs, as she extended her hitting streak to six games.
“I think that’s what the job is for the top of the lineup, to be good ball placers and get runners on base for us. They did their job today,” Jaquish said.
Hoover struck out five and walked one in earning her 13th victory of the year Friday, needing just 104 pitches as the Gamecocks plated two unearned runs in the contest. Hoover gave up one hit in the third and fourth, but kept South Carolina scoreless from the fourth on.
“A lot of times when I’m super hyped up I tend to overthrow and do too much, so I just put the trust in the defense and threw some other pitches to try to get them out in other ways,” Hoover said. “I think coach called a really good game and all in all it seemed to be working.”
Jessica Elliott (16-4) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on five hits in 3.1 innings. She dished out seven of the nine walks Gamecock pitching dished out to the Tigers on the night, with Nickie Blue came on in relief and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout.
Kaylea Snaer had one of South Carolina’s two hits, earning her 23rd double of the season to tie the SEC single-season record with an RBI. Kenzie Maguire had the other hit.
After having the bases loaded in the opening frame, LSU came back in the bottom of the second and got a leadoff walk to Constance Quinn to put an LSU runner on. A sacrifice bunt advanced her to second, with a walk to Bailey Landry putting two on. An infield single by Simmons loaded the bases again for the Tigers, as Griggs grounded out to short to allow Quinn to score to put LSU up 1-0.
In the very next half inning to open the South Carolina third with an out on the board, an error allowed a runner to reach, moving to second on a grounder and then to third on a passed ball. A double to left center drove in the run to tie the game at 1-1, with a two-base error allowing another run to cross to give South Carolina a 2-1 lead.
A walk to Kellsi Kloss to open the bottom half of the inning put one on, advancing to second on a wild pitch. A walk to Allie Walljasper put two on as Taylor Lockwood came on to pinch run. Quinn moved the two over on a sacrifice bunt, with a walk to Serrett loading the bases. In the end, Landry flew out to left to score Kloss to tie the game back at 2-2, as Lockwood was put out at third to end the inning.
The Tigers started to swing a hot bat in the fourth, getting three singles, all back at Elliott in the circle, as on the third hit in that sequence Jaquish drove in a run that ricocheted off of the SC pitcher as LSU took the lead at 3-2, ending Elliott’s day. A fly out to right allowed Bianka Bell to tag up to move to third, as Walljasper singled to left to bring in another LSU run to put the team up 4-2.
Amber Serrett opened the fifth with a single to center, with a bunt single by Landry putting two on. A sacrifice bunt advanced the two into scoring position, as Griggs earned her second RBI of the day to put LSU up 5-2. A walk to Bell put two on, as Jaquish brought both in after lifting a double down the right field line to put LSU up five at 7-2.
“I think any run in an SEC series or game is definitely a confidence builder,” Griggs said. “It’s a really great conference, one of the toughest conferences to play in. I think any run at any point in the game is definitely a confidence booster.”
Game two of the series is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Tiger Park. The game is the fifth-annual “Strikeout Ovarian Cancer” game, as fans that wear teal or show participation in that morning’s fourth-annual “Geaux Teal Ovarian Cancer Walk” will be able to purchase a $2 general admission ticket to the contest.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusb on Instagram.