BATON ROUGE — Trena Peel’s sixth inning three-run home run blast gave the fifth-ranked LSU Tigers the 8-0 win over Kentucky in the bottom of the sixth inning to complete the Southeastern Conference sweep on Sunday in Tiger Park.
“Overall, I am pleased with the team’s focus on the task at hand, which was to sweep Kentucky,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “We played good defense and our pitching was as good as ever. Trena had a heck of a day. Overall, I think it was a good series for us.”
LSU improves to 42-8 overall and holds the lead in the SEC with a record of 21-3. Kentucky falls to 24-27 overall and 7-15 in the SEC.
April Janzen got things started for the Tigers in the bottom of the first with a double to left field that sent Dee Douglas home to score. Trena Peel singled to send Janzen home to put LSU up 2-0.
The Tigers added another run in the bottom of the third inning. Junior Erin Johnson hit a long fly ball to left field, but Tiffany Kruse came up with a stellar catch. Johnson was credited with a sacrifice fly, however, when Hastings tagged at third and made it home.
Hastings scored a second run in the fifth inning on a Peel RBI single to put LSU up 4-0.
Jill Crawford reached on a fielder’s choice and scored when Hastings made it to first on an error.
Peel added three more RBI to her total for five on the day with a three run blast in the bottom of the sixth to win the game for LSU, 8-0.
Junior Britni Sneed went the distance for the Tigers, remaining unbeaten in SEC play with a record of 16-0. With a season record of 26-5, Sneed allowed only three hits, walked three and struck out eight. Sneed has 272 strikeouts for the season, which is six away from her 2000 total of 278.
The Tiger bats had nine hits to bring their season average to .300. Peel was three-for-four with her fifth home run of the season. Connor was two-for-two on the day.
Southeastern Louisiana will make the short drive to Baton Rouge for a single game against the Tigers on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. LSU will face New Mexico State in its final non-conference game of the season. The single game will start at 6 p.m. and will be carried by College Sports Southeast.
The Tigers return to SEC play over the weekend with a three game series against Ole Miss. LSU moved the Saturday doubleheader up to 11 a.m. in hopes that football Spring Game tailgaters would take in a softball game before heading to Tiger Stadium. Saturday is also LSU softball Parents’ Day. At Sunday’s game, the Tigers will honor their five seniors before the noon start.