Just one pitch from a doubleheader sweep at No. 2 Florida (42-6, 19-3 Southeastern Conference) on Tuesday, the No. 23 LSU softball team returned to Baton Rouge with a 1-0 victory and a heartbreaking 2-1 loss.
In game one, LSU (33-16, 14-8 SEC) nearly took the lead in the top of the fifth inning when sophomore pinch runner Alex Boulet tagged up from third base and raced home on a fly ball in left field foul territory.
Boulet slid into home plate safely, but Florida coach Tim Walton argued Boulet left third base early, and the umpire called her out on the play.
LSU’s lead-off batter reached in all but the third and fourth innings, but it took until the seventh frame for the Tigers to capitalize.
Senior right fielder Ashley Applegate drew a lead-off walk and was sacrificed to second by sophomore third baseman Tammy Wray. Freshman pinch-hitter Kailey McCasland came in and delivered with a single through the right side.
Applegate rounded third and scored from second base, diving headfirst just out of reach of the tag, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
“We’re getting timely hits,” said LSU senior pitcher Brittany Mack on the postgame radio show. “That was always our thing. We could get a bunch of hits, but they would be every inning.”
Down to the last strike in the bottom of the seventh, the Gators’ right fielder Ensley Gammel homered to right field, tying the game and forcing the Tigers to extra innings.
A one-out RBI double down the left field line got the job done for the Gators in the bottom of the eighth, spoiling junior pitcher Rachele Fico’s bid for her 16th win.
“We definitely were down, but not for long because we knew we had that game,” Mack said. “We knew if we can outplay them then, we can outplay them again.”
In Tuesday’s nightcap, the Tigers took an early 1-0 lead.
Applegate tripled to deep right-centerfield with one out in the second inning, and junior catcher Lauren Houston drove her in with a two-out RBI single up the middle.
Mack got the start in the circle in game two and said she was especially thankful the Tigers pushed across a run early in the game.
“That was definitely so much easier on me, but it also made me buckle down,” Mack said on the radio show.
Mack went on to allow just four hits while striking out eight and walking two.
Florida threatened to tie and take the lead in the bottom of the sixth after loading the bases with one out.
After a meeting in the circle with LSU coach Beth Torina, Mack buckled down and induced a pop-up in foul territory and a ground out to second base to escape the inning with the shutout in tact.
“[Torina] was just telling me to do your thing, come back and get this,” Mack said. “She just told me to get the fire in me and get it.”
Mack did the same in the bottom of the seventh, striking out Florida catcher Sami Fagan with two runners on base to hand the Gators their second home loss this season.
“After her first at-bat, we knew what we wanted to go at her with,” Mack said. “If I’m going to get her, it has to be a good waste pitch. Luckily I threw it low enough and she chased it.”
 
 
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Contact Scott Branson at [email protected]