Lassiter Walk-Off Home Run Secures No. 16 LSU Day Two Sweep at the Tiger Classic

BATON ROUGE, La. – A five-run seventh inning, capped by outfielder Jalia Lassiter’s two-run homer, led No. 16/13 LSU to a 7-5 walk-off victory over NC State (1-2) to conclude day two of the Tiger Classic on Friday night in Tiger Park. LSU improves to 3-0 on the season after knocking off Nevada (1-1), 6-2 in its first game of the day.

The come-from-behind walk-off victory over NC State was the first to end on a home run since Karli Petty did it on April 10, 2024, versus Southeastern Louisiana in Baton Rouge. Friday night was also the Tigers’ largest deficit overcome in the seventh inning since Feb. 7, 2009, versus Hawaii. LSU trailed 5-1 in that game, scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh, and ultimately won, 6-5, in nine innings.

Overall on the day, utility player Sierra Daniel (3-for-6) and infielder Ally Hutchins (2-for-4) led LSU with a .500 batting average. Hutchins led LSU with a 1.500 slugging percentage and four RBI off a double and a home run, while also drawing three walks.

The pitching staff concluded the day with a 3.50 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 14.0 innings, led by pitcher Tatum Clopton, who had a 0.00 ERA and six punchouts in 4.2 innings of work in the come-from-behind victory over NC State.

“It was one of those days that is going to pay dividends for us in the long run,” said Head Coach Beth Torina. “Both games were tight games. It showed that our team can come back and play from behind. A lot of valuable lessons learned today.”

Game One
Pitcher Paytn Monticelli (1-0) earned her first win in the circle with the Tigers, tossing a complete game, where she struck out five batters, and allowed eight hits, two runs and two walks against Nevada.

Five Tigers recorded hits, led by Daniel, who went 2-for-2 with a run and RBI. Hutchins matched a career-high with three RBI. Utility player Char Lorenz hit a two-run homer, her first with LSU.

Nevada’s pitcher, Talia Tretton (0-1), was given the loss. She registered four strikeouts, gave up four runs, four hits, and five walks, and was 2-for-2 at the dish, including a home run.

The Tigers loaded the bases on walks in the first inning before Hutchins’ base-clearing double to right-center field gave LSU a 3-0 lead.

Nevada scored a run on two hits in the top of the third, and after a pair of scoreless innings, a solo shot in the top of the sixth by Tretton cut the deficit to 3-2.

LSU’s bats woke up in the bottom of the sixth, however, beginning with a leadoff double by infielder Kylee Edwards, and a two-run dinger by Lorenz – her first home run as an LSU Tiger, to build a 5-2 advantage. The Tigers added an insurance run with an RBI single by Daniel, leading to the 6-2 final.

Game Two
Entering the seventh inning down 5-2, the momentum changed in the top of the seventh when infielder Avery Hodge ran down a ball in foul territory to record the second out, which was sandwiched between a pair of strikeouts by Clopton.

Clopton came in the game in relief in the third inning and tossed four complete shutout frames. She ended the game retiring 10 of the final 11 batters she faced and had a stretch of sitting down eight consecutive hitters. Clopton totaled six strikeouts and surrendered one hit and two walks in 4.2 innings for her first win of the season.

“She [Tatum Clopton] is just so competitive and brings a lot of good energy to us,” Coach Torina said. “She was a great person to be in that spot, to get the momentum back and chip away at it, bringing her team along with her.”

After sending NC State out in order in the top of the seventh, first baseman Tori Edwards hit a leadoff triple, her first career three-bagger, and Hutchins drew her second walk of the game that forced an NC State pitching change, putting Morgen Talley on the rubber. A wild pitch scored T. Edwards, and later with runners on the corners, utility player Alix Franklin’s RBI double made it a one-run game at 5-4. Another wild pitch tied the game at 5-5. With two outs and a runner on third, Lassiter stepped to the plate and sent a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall to secure the win and remain undefeated.

Talley (1-1) suffered her first loss, giving up three runs on two hits in 0.2 innings.

For the first time this season, LSU found itself trailing after NC State scored two runs on three hits in the first frame, and three runs on three hits in the third to hold a 5-0 lead.

T. Edwards put the Tigers on the board in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI single to center field, and Hutchins hit her first home run of the season with a solo blast to left center in the fifth to cut into the deficit at 5-2 before the five-run seventh inning.

Up Next
The Tiger Classic will continue with LSU facing Nevada for a second time on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. CT.

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