Edwards Rakes, Staff Deals Two Shutouts on Day Two of the Tiger Classic

BATON ROUGE, La. – Tori Edwards was unstoppable at the plate, finishing with a perfect batting average on six plate appearances and hitting three homers on the day as No. 9/10 LSU shutout both Charlotte and Central Arkansas at Tiger Park for the second consecutive day. 

LSU is now 4-0 with four shutouts after run-ruling Charlotte (1-3) 10-0 in five innings and blanked Central Arkansas (1-2) 6-0 Saturday evening.

Edwards dominated in both games, going 3-for-3 and scoring four runs to pace LSU with six hits and eight RBI. Her first career home run was a grand slam against Charlotte, and the redshirt freshman sent two over the wall against Central Arkansas. Edwards ended the day with four extra-base hits and a 2.667 slugging percentage.

As a team, LSU outhit its opponents 15-5 and outscored them 16-0, thanks to a .333 batting average and .622 slugging percentage.

“Yeah, Tori [Edwards] is special,” said Head Coach Beth Torina. “She just approaches things differently than many people I have been around. She is good at executing the plans, and when you add that to her athleticism and ability to hit with such power, with her exit velocities, she is just a really special player.”

In the circle, LSU accounted for two combined shutouts and eight strikeouts, and held the opposing batters to a .125 batting average over 12.0 innings. After being sidelined for two seasons, Tatum Clopton took the rubber and claimed a victory, and Ashley Vallejo earned the decision in game two against Central Arkansas. It was both Clopton’s and Vallejo’s first wins as LSU Tigers. Emilee Casanova came in relief in both games to contribute to the shutouts.

“Yeah, they [pitching staff] have looked good. It was nice to get everybody time today, and I thought everybody lived up to what they were capable of. I thought that was nice to see. It was nice to see Ashley Vallejo as a Tiger. It was really cool to see Tatum Clopton return after a two-year hiatus. I thought she looked really solid. I was happy to see them all out there, and I thought they did a good job.”

Game One

Clopton (1-0) and Casanova combined for a one-hit shutout to begin the day. In Clopton’s first appearance since 2022, she struck out four batters and gave up one hit and a walk in 4.0 innings. Casanova closed the game by retiring three of four batters she faced in the fifth frame, surrendering one walk.

Edwards was 3-for-3 at the plate, including her grand slam as part of a six-run fourth inning. Danieca Coffey logged two hits in three plate appearances and had three RBI in the win.

Edwards led off the second inning with a double, advanced to third, and ultimately home thanks to a pair of wild pitches. With the bases loaded, Coffey knocked the club’s second extra-base hit of the frame, a base-clearing double to left field that gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

In the fourth, the Tigers put up six runs, highlighted by Edward’s grand slam – her second extra-base hit of the game and first collegiate home run. McKaela Walker opened the inning with a single and reached third base on a wild pitch and a flyout. Walker touched home plate on a sacrifice fly credited to Avery Hodge, and after consecutive singles and a walk to load the bases, Edwards unloaded on the first pitch she saw, bringing everyone home to make the score 9-0.

Sydney Peterson added an insurance run with a pinch-hit, run-scoring single to end the fourth inning, and the defense closed the door in the top of the fifth to secure the run-rule, 10-0.

Charlotte’s pitcher, Brooke Bowling (1-1), was charged with the loss after giving up nine runs on seven hits. Bowling walked four batters and had one strikeout in 3.2 innings.

Game Two

LSU’s bats stayed consistent in game two, logging 11 hits in the 10-0 five-inning win over Central Arkansas. McKee went 3-for-3 at the plate and scored three runs, and Sierra Daniel was 2-for-2 with two RBI in her first start of the season.

After her grand slam in the fourth inning against Charlotte, Edwards’ next at-bat was a three-run shot at the bottom of the first inning against Central Arkansas, set up by walks from Jalia Lassiter and Maci Bergeron.

With a 3-0 lead, LSU scored one run in three of the next five innings, highlighted by Edwards’ solo shot in the fifth and Coffey’s RBI single in the sixth to get the Bayou Bengals to a 6-0 lead.

Vallejo (1-0) sat down the first three batters she faced in Purple and Gold. After giving up a leadoff double in the second, Vallejo retired 11 consecutive batters, including her two strikeouts in the fourth and fifth stanzas. The transfer hurler gave up two hits and no walks in 5.0 innings.

Casanova entered the game in the top of the sixth and registered her first two punchouts of the season in the seventh, including the final out. Casanova gave up two hits and one walk in 2.0 innings.

Central Arkansas’ Julia Petty (1-1) pitched a complete game, striking out three batters and gave up six runs and four walks.   

Up Next

LSU will conclude the Tiger Classic with a 3 p.m. CT game against Southeastern Louisiana.  

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