The LSU softball team managed one victory in four chances over the weekend in Oklahoma, falling to 10-7 on the season.
On Friday, junior Oklahoma pitcher Keilani Ricketts shut down the Tigers for seven innings in the circle and blasted a first-inning solo home run to pace the Sooners en route to a 7-0 victory.
“In my opinion, [Ricketts] is the best player in the country,” said LSU softball coach Beth Torina said. “There’s a good reason for it, and we saw that tonight.”
LSU senior outfielder Ashley Langoni spoiled Rickett’s perfect-game bid in the seventh inning on an infield single to the shortstop.
Senior pitcher Brittany Mack surrendered a career-high seven runs in the loss, the Tigers’ first in seven contests.
LSU got back in the win column Saturday morning with a 7-4 victory over No. 22 Oklahoma State (8-9), behind a two-for-two, three-RBI performance from freshman third baseman Kailey McCasland.
McCasland opened the scoring in the second inning with a two-run double and added her career-high third RBI on a solo home run in the fifth frame.
Mack got the start and pitched 6.2 innings, allowing four runs, two unearned, before junior pitcher Rachele Fico came on to record the game’s final out.
“It was a tough strike zone she had to throw in, and I felt the number of pitchers she threw caught up to her at the end of the game,” Torina said. “She battled through it and got a well-deserved win.”
LSU once again faced Oklahoma on Saturday afternoon, with Ricketts in the circle. The Tigers’ offense sputtered on the way to a 5-0 defeat.
Despite being shut out and accumulating only three hits, Torina said she saw signs of improvement.
“We made some nice offensive adjustments against Ricketts,” Torina said. “If we’re able to make adjustments against a pitcher of that caliber, we’ll be able to make adjustments against other pitchers during the season.”
Fico pitched seven innings in the loss and allowed five runs, with all but one unearned.
In the weekend finale, LSU lost to Oklahoma State, 1-0, in 10 innings to complete a 1-3 weekend.
Fico pitched her way out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth before conceding the game-winning run on a fielding error by freshman second baseman Rikki Alcaraz in the 10th frame.
“I just tried my best to keep us in the game as long as I could,” Fico said. “We fought hard, but the other team came away with the win this time.”
LSU failed to capitalize on late-game opportunities at the plate and committed four errors in the loss.
“We don’t have the room to make defensive mistakes,” Torina said.
The Tigers next play Wednesday at 6 p.m. against Nicholls State (4-14) in Thibodaux.
 
—-
Contact Scott Branson at [email protected]