BATON ROUGE, La. – A first and fourth-inning onslaught aided No. 4 LSU in a five-inning, 14-0, one-hit shutout over UL Lafayette on Tuesday night at Tiger Park.
The 14-run thumping is LSU’s (24-1) largest margin of victory against UL Lafayette (13-10), doubling the previous high, a 10-3 win on May 22, 2021.
Left-handed hurler Jayden Heavener (7-1) threw all five innings, where she logged six strikeouts and allowed one hit and four walks. Heavener tossed her fourth shutout of the season, and LSU blanked its opponent for the 11th time this year.
“She [Jayden Heavener] is confident in her stuff and what she does. She continues to get better. She is locating things better and executing plans better. She is growing every time she takes the mound, which is fun to see.”
ULL’s starting pitcher, Bethaney Noble (2-5), survived only 0.1 innings and was pulled after giving up four runs (three earned) on three hits and walking one batter with no strikeouts.
For the fourth consecutive game, LSU has scored 10 or more runs in five-inning run-rule victories and has totaled 14 double-digit hit games after finishing with 11 knocks on Tuesday night. Outfielder McKenzie Redoutey was 3-for-3 and scored three runs, infielder Danieca Coffey extended her hitting streak to eight games with a 2-for-2 outing and had two RBI, two walks and a run, and utility player Tori Edwards was 2-for-3 at the plate, including her ninth home run of the season, and had four RBI and two runs.
“I think our offense was able to apply pressure throughout the game for a ton of our opponents this year,” said Coach Torina. “We are scoring early and scoring often. I think we have just continued to apply pressure with the at-bats we are having and our base running. We make it hard to play defense against us and pitch against us.”
LSU’s first-inning dominance continued, scoring six runs on four hits and one ULL error in the opening frame. Coffey drew a leadoff walk, and catcher Maci Bergeron put them both in scoring position with a double down the right-field line. Edwards singled up the middle to bring home both runners. After an early pitching change, LSU scored four more runs, featuring Coffey’s two-run ground-rule double to cap a 6-0 inning. LSU has outscored its opponents 48-3 in the first inning this season. LSU scored two runs in the second stanza with an RBI double from outfielder Jadyn Laneaux and an RBI single from infielder Sierra Daniel to increase the lead to 8-0.
The Tigers went scoreless in the third but blew the roof off in the sixth with six more runs on three hits and two ULL errors. Edwards got the party started with a two-run blast to left field. Redoutey, who singled after Edwards’ shot, eventually scored an unearned run on a wild pitch, infielder Avery Hodge hit a run-scoring single, and outfielder Jalia Lassiter registered her second sacrifice fly of the season to wrap up the inning with a 14-0 advantage.
The defense dominated the entire game as only one of the few Ragin’ Cajun baserunners reached third base, which happened in the first inning, and had a stretch where they retired six consecutive batters.
Up Next
LSU opens its SEC schedule with a three-game series versus No. 23 Kentucky at Tiger Park on March 14-16.
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