Freshmen Arms Shine, No. 15 LSU Picks Up Pair of Victories
FULLERTON, Calif. – No. 15 LSU swept its second day at the Judi Garman Classic by shutting out Minnesota, 3-0 and defeated San Jose State, 12-6 Saturday at Anderson Family Field.
The Tigers are now 19-1 on the season while Minnesota and San Jose State drop to 9-7 and 6-10, respectively.
Freshman pitcher Sydney Berzon opened the day with a three-hit shutout win over Minnesota while freshman pitcher Alea Johnson earned her fourth win of the season against San Jose State.
Third baseman Danieca Coffey led the Tigers with five hits, five RBIs and scored two runs. Left fielder Ali Newland followed with four hits on the day and had three ribbies with two runs scored. Center fielder Ciara Briggs, first baseman Raeleen Gutierrez and right fielder McKenzie Redoutey each had three hits.
Game One
Berzon (7-0) tossed a three-hit complete game shutout in a 3-0 victory over Minnesota. Berzon tied her career-high with eight strikeouts and retired eight consecutive batters from the fourth to the sixth inning highlighted by six strikeouts.
The Tigers now have eight shutouts on the year including two this weekend.
Coffey had her third game this season with three hits, going 3-for-4 from the dish with one RBI, and Redoutey knocked her third home run of the season in the sixth inning.
Minnesota pitcher Jacie Hambrick (4-2) was charged with the loss. She tallied four strikeouts with seven hits, three runs, and two walks allowed through 6.0 innings.
The Tigers wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as Coffey’s RBI-single brought Gutierrez home to give LSU an early 1-0 advantage in the second inning.
After two more scoreless innings, Briggs kicked off the fifth frame with her second double of the weekend. A couple batters later, designated player Georgia Clark reached on an error which brought home Briggs for the Tigers’ second run of the game.
Berzon continued her dominance in the circle by striking out the side in bottom of the fifth frame, giving her six strikeouts through five innings of work. Redoutey complimented her effort by hitting a leadoff homer in the top of the sixth stanza, her third time touching all four bases this season.
The Gophers put two on base in the bottom of the seventh, but a pop-up double play ended their rally, securing LSU’s a 3-0 win.
Game Two
LSU collected 14 hits against San Jose State and had five total players finish with two or more hits in the game and three players had multiple RBIs in the contest.
Johnson moved to 4-0 this season and had three strikeouts and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks.
Coffey had another multi-hit game in the nightcap, going 2-for-4 from the plate, marking her team-high 11th game with multiple hits the season. She also tied a career-high four RBIs. Shortstop Taylor Pleasants had a one hit and two RBIs in the win. Briggs tacked on her second multi-hit game of the weekend as she went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
San Jose State pitcher Ashley Goard (0-2) was credited with the loss and threw two strikeouts, three hits, and four runs in 2.0 innings pitched.
Coffey led off the game with a single down the first base line which for her fourth hit of the day. Briggs and Clark were both awarded free bases to load the bases for the Tigers. A wild pitch advanced all runners and brought home Coffey for the opening run, giving LSU an early 1-0 lead.
San Jose State tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the second, but LSU responded with four runs in the fourth frame highlighted by an RBI double from Briggs and a two-RBI single from Pleasants to give LSU a 5-1 lead.
The Fighting Tigers didn’t stop there as a pair of singles and a walk juiced the bases with one out in the top of the fifth. Coffey took advantage by smacking a double to right field that plated two more runs increasing the Bayou Bengals’ lead, 7-1.
The runs kept pouring in as two more runners came across for the Tigers in the sixth. Newland recorded an RBI-single and Coffey drew a walk with the bases loaded to push the lead to 9-1.
The Spartans added on another run in the sixth but were unable to do anymore damage. LSU tacked on three runs in the seventh thanks to a sacrifice fly from Gutierrez and a two-RBI single from Newland to increase the lead to 12-1.
San Jose State made a last-minute push and scored four runners in the bottom of the seventh but came up short as the Tigers won 12-6.
On Deck
LSU will complete the Judi Garman Classic with a 11 a.m. CT game against Cal Poly Sunday morning.
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