BATON ROUGE – The No. 5/4 LSU softball team defeated the South Alabama Jaguars 11-1 in five innings in a midweek match up Tuesday night in Tiger Park. The Tigers move to 21-3 on the season while South Alabama falls 8-17 on the year.
In the bottom of the first, Aliyah Andrews started it off for the Tigers with a double down the left field line and stole to advance to third. Taylor Pleasants singled to left center to plate Andrews and take the 1-0 lead over the Jaguars.
In the bottom of the third, Savannah Stewart doubled to deep left field and Andrews added a single on a bunt to advance Stewart. Pleasants singled to plate Stewart and Georgia Clark added a sacrifice fly to add another run to the board. The Tigers scored two runs on three hits to increase the lead heading into the fourth.
South Alabama put a run on the board in the top of the fourth, but two strikeouts from Ali Kiponen ended the threat.
In the bottom of the fourth, Taylor Tidwell and Amanda Doyle both drew a walk to put two on late in the inning for the Tigers. Stewart crushed a stand up tripled to right center to score two for the Tigers. Andrews added a bunt for a hit to plate Stewart and Pleasants launched a two-run dinger over the centerfield wall to add to the Tiger lead. Shelbi Sunseri singled to left field and Taryn Antoine entered to pinch run. Clark singled to left to drive in Antoine from second. Briggs singled to the infield to plate another run, and Tidwell singled to the shortstop to plate Cummins. The Tigers scored eight runs on eight hits all with two outs all in that inning.
Ali Kilponen earned the win in the circle for the Tigers, she moves to 5-1 on the season. She recorded nine strikeouts and allowed one earned run. South Alabama’s Jenna Hardy took the loss for the Jaguars. She allowed nine hits and eight runs all earned.
Game Notes
- Ali Kilponen recorded nine strikeouts.
- Aliyah Andrews is on a 15-game hitting streak and a 15-game on-base streak.
- Taylor Pleasants tallied her fourth career homerun and recorded four RBIs on the night.
- Georgia Clark and Savannah Stewart both recorded two RBIs for the game.
Torina’s Thoughts
On scoring eight runs with two outs in the fourth…
“Yeah, it was nice to see them do that with two outs. I honestly didn’t even realize how many runs it was with two outs until we came off the field, and the dugout was talking about it. So, the kids knew they were battling with two outs a little more than I did, but it’s great to see them able to do that and just keep stringing things together.”
On Savannah Stewart’s performance…
“I thought she looked great in both of her bats, and I thought she hit the ball hard both times. She’s been working really hard. She hasn’t been completely pleased with her outcome, so, I know she’s worked really hard to see some better things. Hopefully this is a step in a better direction for her.”
On Ali Kilponen’s performance in the circle…
“She made big pitches in big situations. That’s a sign of a great pitcher. She’s getting better and better at doing that and limiting her mistakes. I thought she warmed up great. I’m glad we had a good performance out of her.”
Up Next
The Tigers get on the road this weekend to open SEC Conference play at South Carolina. They start the series on Friday at 5 p.m. CT. This game will stream live on SEC Network+. They’ll continue play on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT, and will wrap out the series Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. These games will both be available on SEC Network.