COLUMBIA, S.C. — The No. 7 LSU Tigers had their record 19 game winning streak snapped by the No. 19 South Carolina Gamecocks with a 6-2 loss in game one, but senior All-American Ashlee Ducote had five RBI in game two to give LSU the 6-0 win.
“I am really proud of the way the girls bounced back after a disappointing loss in the first game,” said head coach Glenn Moore. “I thought we were ready to play, but the breaks did not go our way, and any time you are playing a good team that is able to capitalize on mistakes, then you are going to have bad results. We showed a lot of character by bouncing back in game two.”
LSU will travel to Athens on Saturday to face the Georgia Bulldogs in a double header at 12 p.m. (Central time). The game will be broadcast on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net and be joined in progress on the LSU Sports Network at 12:45 p.m.
In game one, LSU threatened in the first after loading the bases when second baseman Stephanie Hastings and shortstop Tara Asbill singled and first baseman Shaunte’ Fremin was hit by a pitch. The Tigers left them stranded, however, to end their half of the inning with no score.
The Gamecocks scored first in the second during game one when catcher Andrienne Genovese singled to start the inning. She then scored when second baseman Kim Schultze singled and advanced to second on an error by center fielder Stacey Newton. Schultze then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by first baseman Danielle Quinones. Left fielder Jodi Fittro then singled to left field placing runners on first and second for USC. Quinones then scored on an attempted pick off that went bad when catcher Jennifer Schuelke had a bad throw to second base. Fittro stole home to score the last run when shortstop Asbill’s throw home missed the target.
With USC up 4-0, Newton picked up a walk to start the sixth and later advanced to third and scored on two wild pitches to put the Tigers on the board.
The Gamecocks answered back in the bottom of the sixth when pinch hitter Heather Culver hit a double to the center field wall to send home Fittro and Quinones, making the score 6-1.
LSU gave it one last effort in the seventh when Asbill scored on a double to center field by Fremin, but the Gamecocks managed to hold the Tigers to that single run to end the game.
The LSU batters had eight hits for the night off pitcher Megan Matthews but left runners stranded in every inning. Asbill hit 3-for-4 for the Tigers.
Tiger pitcher Ashley Lewis got the loss bringing her record to 15-3. Lewis gave up seven hits and walked six batters, while striking out two.
This loss marked the end of an LSU record 19 game winning streak set on April 11 against Louisiana Tech. Six runs is the most runs that the Tigers have given up for a loss so far this season.
In game two, the Tigers began scoring early when Ducote doubled to center field to send home Hastings to put LSU up 1-0 in the first.
During the second, Ducote picked up her second RBI of the game when she tripled to right center to send Asbill across the plate.
In the top of the fourth, USC pitcher Joyce McMillin hit Tiger pitcher Britni Sneed and proceeded to walk Newton and Douglas to load the bases for Hastings. Right fielder Adrianna Baggetta made a diving catch to get the third out and save the Gamecocks from trouble.
Ducote came across for the Tigers once again in the fifth hitting her seventh home run of the season to put LSU up 3-0. Fremin then followed up Ducote’s hit with a long fly ball to the left field fence that fielder Fittro dropped to allow her to make it to second base. Pinch runner Taryn Perry who came in to run for Fremin then scored when designated hitter Lewis doubled to left field.
In the top of the sixth, Ducote hit a two run home run for her second homer of the game. She now has eight for the season and 21 for her career at LSU.
Sneed picked up the win for the Tigers, improving her record to 17-5. Sneed had 11 strikeouts and now has 203 for the season which is one shy of her single season record of 204 she set in 1999. She only gave up three hits and walked two.
The Tigers bats combined for eight hits with Ducote hitting 4-for-4 and five RBI. She had a double, triple and two home runs for LSU.
The Tigers are now 40-8 over all and 14-2 in the SEC. South Carolina is 30-18 overall and 11-10 SEC.