HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Pitchers Britni Sneed and Kristin Schmidt powered the LSU softball team to a sweep of Southern Miss, 1-0 and 8-1, on Wednesday evening at the Southern Miss Softball Complex in Hattiesburg, Miss.
With the wins the Tigers, who jumped to No. 3 in the latest NFCA rankings released Wednesday, improve their record to 42-8 this year. LSU has now won 12 consecutive contests. Southern Miss falls to 25-27.
The win also marked the 100th victory at LSU for coach Yvette Girouard.
Girouard, in her second year at the helm of the Tigers, became the fastest coach to reach 100 wins in school history, doing so in just 119 games.
The Tigers, who were fifth in the previous set of rankings, leapfrogged Stanford and Nebraska to move up to third.
Sneed, who was named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week earlier in the day, was dominant in game one as she hurled her fourth no-hitter of the season. It was her second in as many weeks against the Golden Eagles.
She struck out 13 and walked none to earn the victory and move to 23-5 on the season. She lost a perfect game due to a catcher’s interference and a Julie Wiese error.
Blair Smith scored the only run of game one in the third inning. She drew a leadoff walk and came home on Trena Peel’s one-out double through the left side.
In the second game, Schmidt proved to be nearly as effective as Sneed in the circle. She carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and allowed just three for the game. Improving to 15-3 on the season, Schmidt struck out 13 and walked only one.
Felicia Gonzales went the distance for the Golden Eagles and took the loss to drop to 7-10.
The Tigers posted their eight runs on seven hits while taking advantage of two Lady Eagle errors.
LSU scored consistently, posting runs in six of the seven innings. April Janzen got the Tigers on the board first. She singled, stole second and moved to third on a Christy Connor fly out to deep center. She was forced home on an illegal pitch.
Wiese doubled home Tessa Lynam, who led off with a walk, for LSU’s lone runin the second inning. The lead became 3-0 in the third on Connor’s solo home run to right-centerfield. The shot was her team-leading sixth of the season.
In the fifth inning, the Tigers blew the game open with a three-run rally.
Peel led off with a walk and moved to second on Janzen’s infield single. An error by shortstop Channika Gant allowed Connor to reach and loaded the bases.
Erin Johnson’s sacrifice fly to centerfield scored one as all three runners advanced. Following a Leslie Barron popout to Gant, Leigh Ann Danos laced a two-run single up the middle for a 6-0 LSU lead.
With one out in the sixth, Trena Peel reached third on a three-base error by right fielder Sarah Boyd. She came home on a wild pitch.
Johnson, who transferred to LSU from Southern Miss prior to the 2001 season, hit her third homer of the year in the seventh inning to close out the Tigers scoring.
Southern Miss’ only run of the day came in the form of a leadoff home run by Tammy Edwards in the bottom of the seventh inning.
LSU returns to Southeastern Conference action on Saturday when it faces Ole Miss in a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. at Oxford, Miss.