The LSU softball team gave a sample of how its season has gone Monday night, splitting its doubleheader against Penn State with a blowout win in the first game followed by a heartbreaking loss in the second.
The games — originally scheduled for the weekend — had been delayed to Monday after Penn State was unable to travel to Baton Rouge over the weekend because of inclement weather. But while LSU came out of the gates with a masterful performance in game one, it seemed to show rust in game two.
“It just shows you how our game is,” said senior outfielder Jacee Blades. “You have one game where we run-rule them and another game where you start with the same intensity and you don’t finish the game the same way. It’s kind of the beauty of our game.”
The Tigers displayed dominance on both sides of the field in the first game, winning 11-3 in five innings via the mercy rule. LSU has won four of its first 12 games in five innings, impressive considering the Tigers only won six games last season in similar fashion.
Freshman pitcher Baylee Corbello had another successful outing, going all five innings while allowing only two hits. Although she allowed a season-high three earned runs, Corbello kept the damage contained to only one inning, giving up only two hits.
The Tigers’ bats came out firing early, getting five hits and four runs in the opening inning. Then, in the third inning, sophomore shortstop Bianka Bell and sophomore catcher Kellsi Kloss became the 20th duo in Tigers history to hit back-to-back home runs.
Kloss said she was lucky to find a pitch she could handle and she simply pounced on it.
Penn State threatened to extend the game to the full seven innings, putting runners on first and second with two outs in the fifth. But a reaching catch by sophomore first baseman Sandra Simmons over the Tigers’ dugout secured the early victory.
The second game featured an invigorated Penn State team that made plays at the right time to capture a 6-5 win. The game featured a disappointing performance from senior pitcher Ashley Czechner, who allowed eight hits and walked the leadoff hitter in the first five innings.
LSU took early leads of 3-0 and 5-3 in the early innings, but Czechner’s inability to get the first batter of the inning out allowed Penn State to claw back. The comeback peaked in the top of the fifth, when a series of hits and sacrifices led to a 6-5 Penn State lead.
The Tigers had a chance to tie in the seventh, but senior infielder Allison Falcon’s line drive could only reach the warning track for a fly out. After the game, hitting coach Howard Dobson said the game came down to bad breaks.
“We just couldn’t seem to get [the ball] to punch through the gap,” Dobson said. “Sometimes you have to get breaks. And unfortunately, you have got to make your breaks or sometimes you have to get breaks in order to win and to keep winning.”
Coach Beth Torina was not available for comment after the game.
Later this week, the Tigers will play their first game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic against Long Beach State in Palm Springs, Calif. Kloss said she finds the big wins important, but also utilizes its losses.
“Yeah those one-run games are heartbreaking, but they make us stronger and they show us what we need to work on,” Kloss said.

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Charles Champagne

LSU senior outfielder Jacee Blades prepares to lead off first base Monday, Feb. 17, 2014 during their 6-5 loss to Penn State University at Tiger Park.