The No. 1 LSU softball team retained its perfect record at home (24-0) with its 14th win by mercy rule with an 8-0 victory against No. 24 South Alabama in five innings at Tiger Park on Tuesday night.
The Tigers (31-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) got the ball rolling early and often — scoring in all four innings they batted. Sophomore pitcher Kelsee Selman earned her seventh win of the season against the Jaguars (21-7, 5-3 Sun Belt).
“Every inning, I kept asking them, ‘No zeros on the board,’” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “We did that by continuing to hold the momentum and just continuing to keep the pressure on them.”
LSU earned its second consecutive mercy-rule win against a ranked opponent by taking advantage of early mistakes by South Alabama’s senior pitcher Farish Beard, scoring three of its first five runs on poorly thrown pitches.
In the first inning, junior shortstop Bianka Bell scored on passed ball and sophomore third baseman Sahvanna Jaquish scored on an illegal pitch.
Beard continued to struggle in the second when the Tigers added another run on a wild pitch.
“Overall we did a good job [running the bases],” Torina said. “Mistakes by the other team also happen because of the pressure that we put on them with the offense that we bring to the plate.”
While Beard struggled for South Alabama, Selman shined for the Tigers.
Selman retired her first eight batters before allowing her only walk of the game, and she threw two straight three-up, three-down innings. She held a no-hitter until the fourth inning when Jaguars’ sophomore catcher Chloe Rathburn single through the right side.
Although she allowed another hit, Selman finished with seven strikeouts in five innings pitched, earning her seventh complete game of the season.
LSU’s consistency at the plate takes the pressure off the Tigers’ pitchers to be perfect, Selman said.
After scoring five runs through the first two innings, the Tigers’ lineup continued to roll in the third and fourth innings, spurred by hits from sophomore second baseman Constance Quinn and Jaquish.
Quinn stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded in the third and drilled a two-RBI single to the wall in right center.
Jaquish put the icing on the cake in the fifth with a solo home run to right center, breaking her tie with Bell for the team home run lead with her 13th homer of the season.
“I definitely didn’t think the one tonight was going out,” Jaquish said. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, please get out of there.’ Luckily it got a gust of wind because I definitely didn’t hit it square.”
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.