After having its nine-game winning streak broken by South Carolina on Sunday, the No. 13 LSU softball team came out with vengeance Tuesday night in a 5-1 victory against Southeastern Louisiana University.
The Tigers (28-6, 7-2 Southeastern Conference) were held to only five hits against the Gamecocks last weekend, but the batting barrage began early for LSU against the Lions on Tuesday. Freshman shortstop Bianka Bell got things rolling with an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning, and redshirt junior second baseman Allison Falcon hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the squad’s second run.
Sophomore designated player Rikki Alcaraz added an RBI double to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead, providing a cushion for junior starting pitcher Meghan Patterson to work with. The squad hasn’t lost a game when it’s scored in the first inning.
“We were all pretty down from Sunday, and we were all thinking that we had to stay within ourselves and just apply the pressure to them today, make things happen, make plays and hit the ball better than we did Sunday,” Bell said.
Patterson said she enjoyed having run support behind her before she went to the mound again in the top of the second inning.
“In the past couple of games when I pitched, the team struggled to score runs for me, so when they busted out those three runs, I was really excited and it got me pumped up,” Patterson said.
Patterson was dominant on the mound for LSU, tossing six-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless baseball, striking out seven and walking two. Patterson was replaced by Bell in the pitcher’s circle to begin the seventh inning, but a bases-loaded jam forced LSU coach Beth Torina to bring her starter back in.
Patterson responded by allowing only one run to cross the plate, charged to Bell, and sealing the squad’s 28th victory of the year.
“Coming back in, I wasn’t nervous at all,” Patterson said. “I was still warm. I just focused on my pitches one at a time because I didn’t really want to look at just striking them out. I didn’t want to give up any hits in that situation.”
Meanwhile, the Tigers offense carried on throughout the night, as Bell and junior third baseman Tammy Wray each blasted solo home runs to give the team five runs for the day. Both Bell and Wray have seven home runs in the 2013 campaign.
“[The home runs are] definitely a good thing,” Bell said. “We’re definitely trying to make things happen for our team, and good things are happening for both of us. It’s good to have someone to compete with like that, and it’s making me a better player, and I’m sure it’s making her a better player.”
The Tigers travel to Mobile, Ala., to take on No. 25 South Alabama (27-5) tonight. The Jaguars have won four in a row, and their offense has seven different players with multiple home runs and double-digit RBIs.
“It’s a long road trip for us, but we’re going to bring our A game,” Torina said. “We’re going to bring everything we’ve got to them because we understand they’re a quality program.”
