The LSU softball team bested McNeese State 4-0 on Wednesday night in Lake Charles, taking the season series and extending its win streak to eight games.
The Tigers finished a four-game road sweep, including three games against South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., during which LSU pitchers conceded zero runs over 27 innings.
LSU senior pitcher Brittany Mack pitched all seven innings in the circle Wednesday, striking out six Cowgirls while allowing just four hits.
“The pitchers just continue to do a really nice job,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “McNeese had runners in scoring position tonight, but Brittany Mack always finds a way to come up with big pitches when she needs them.”
McNeese State (20-9) leadoff batter, senior left fielder Claire Terracina, started off the team’s previous contest with a triple, where she was stranded by LSU junior pitcher Rachele Fico.
Terracina opened the bottom of the first inning of Wednesday’s contest with another triple, but Mack left her stranded again and went on to retire the next 10 batters.
“I really couldn’t believe [Terracina] did that again,” Torina said. “The defense got us out of that inning.”
In the field, LSU committed no errors and only had two over the last four games after tallying 19 in the nine previous contests.
The Tigers (24-8) took advantage of a McNeese State wild pitch and two errors to open the scoring in the fourth inning.
With LSU sophomore third baseman Tammy Wray at the plate, sophomore second baseman Allison Falcon scored on the wild pitch, followed closely by senior outfielder Ashley Applegate, who scored on a throwing error by the catcher.
Wray finished her at-bat by grounding to the shortstop, but another throwing error allowed junior catcher Lauren Houston to score from third base to give LSU a 3-0 lead.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Falcon at first base and senior outfielder Ashley Langoni at third, Falcon broke for second base but stopped halfway and got into a rundown.
Langoni dashed home and scored to push the Tigers’ lead to four.
“I got a terrible jump, so I decided to make anything happen,” Falcon said. “Lang is always an evasive runner and can figure out a way to get around the tag. I just knew if I could give her a couple seconds, she would score.”
The 4-0 advantage would prove to be the final score after Mack worked her way out of trouble in the bottom of the seventh.
With Cowgirls on second and third base and two outs, Mack induced a game-ending pop-up on the infield to secure her 10th win of the season and eighth in a row.
“She always seems to step up when it’s time,” Torina said. “She’s a very intense person, and when it’s time to compete, she really does that.”
The Tigers will return to Tiger Park for a three-game series against Southeastern Conference foe Arkansas this weekend (18-13, 2-9 SEC), beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
 
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Contact Scott Branson at [email protected]