OXFORD, Miss. — All-American Britni Sneed threw her fifth no-hitter of the season as the third-ranked Tiger softball team blanked the Ole Miss Rebels, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.
Extending their season-best winning streak to 15 games, the Tigers improve to 45-8 overall and 23-3 in the Southeastern Conference. LSU has now won 25 of its last 26 games. Ole Miss falls to 25-26 overall and 7-20 in the SEC.
“Once again Britni was outstanding for us in the circle, throwing the no-hitter “said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “I was glad to get a couple of runs early in the game that gave us a little room, but we are still having trouble converting. We had opportunities in every inning, but we just couldnt seem to push the runs across.
“Tessa Lynam had a great weekend for us at the plate and it is great for us to see her coming around lately,” Girouard continued. “Christy Connor also came up with some powerful swings along with Trena Peel. I was also glad to see Megann get the big home run.”
Sneed got the complete-game no-hitter, her third in the last six outings.
Adding to her school record for shutouts in the season, she now has 18 on the year.
The senior also struck out 13 Rebel batters, her ninth double-figure strikeout performance in her last 10 games, running her season total to 357, just 31 shy of former Louisiana-Monroe pitcher Sarah Dawson in fifth place on the list of NCAA career strikeout leaders.
For the weekend, Lynam led LSU with a 6-for-10 performance from the plate with an RBI. Peel went 5-for-11 with three doubles and an RBI, while Connor had two doubles and a home run for the Tigers.
LSU got in the board early in the game. Trena Peel led off with a double to right field. Peel advanced to third on an April Janzen single as Janzen advanced to second on the play. A sacrifice fly by Lynam scored Peel from third to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead.
LSU added another run in the top of the second inning as Megann Steege nailed her second home run of the season over the left field fence.
The bid for the perfect game by Sneed ended in the bottom of the second inning with a leadoff walk, but Sneed came back to strike out the side to end the inning.
The Tigers had runners on base in the third, fourth and fifth, but could not convert again until the sixth inning. Erin Johnson led off with a walk before Jennie Reeves hit an infield single and Johnson advanced to second.
Julie Wiese reached on a fielders choice that advanced Reeves to second as Johnson was out at third. After a Steege strike out, Blair Smith single to right center that scored Reeves from second and gave LSU the 3-0 lead.
The Rebels got their second baserunner of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Britte Hardy reached on an error by Wiese. She advanced to second on a wild pitch, but a fly out and a strikeout ended the inning.