After LSU’s 8-0 victory against Mississippi Valley State on Friday night, things took an unfavorable turn for the Tigers in their second game of the Baton Rouge Regional.
UL-Lafayette handed the Tigers their first loss of the double-elimination regional, 9-4, Saturday afternoon.
The Ragin’ Cajuns pulled out the win in front of a Tiger Park crowd of nearly equal amounts of LSU and UL-Lafayette fans.
UL-Lafayette freshman pitcher Ashley Brignac picked up the win, striking out seven Tigers in a complete game.
LSU sophomore pitcher Cody Trahan took the loss, allowing six runs in just more than three innings of work.
The two pitchers both started strong as fans watched three and a half scoreless innings to begin the contest.
But things quickly got out of hand for Trahan and the Tigers in bottom of the third when they allowed five Cajun runs.
The Cajuns began their scoring threat in the bottom of the third when sophomore designated player Vallie Gaspard reached first base on an error by LSU senior second baseman Shannon Stein.
UL-Lafayette senior second baseman Vanessa Soto, who played the past three seasons at LSU, followed with a double to the center field wall over LSU sophomore center fielder Rachel Mitchell.
Trahan intentionally walked UL-Lafayette senior right fielder Holly Tankersley to load the bases, and then sophomore third baseman Melissa Verde brought everyone home on a grand slam over the right field fence.
Three subsequent hits allowed the Ragin’ Cajuns to add another run when a single by senior shortstop Brooke Brodhead drove sophomore catcher Lana Bowers home to put UL-Lafayette ahead, 5-0.
While Trahan made it out of the third inning, she did not make it much further as LSU coach Yvette Girouard pulled the starter after she began the fourth inning with a four-pitch walk to Gaspard.
LSU senior pitcher Tiffany Garcia came on in relief but could not shut down the UL-Lafayette offense as the Ragin’ Cajuns would add four runs to their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Soto immediately took advantage of Garcia with an RBI-triple down the right field line.
After a Tankersely pop up, Garcia walked two batters to load the bases. The next batter, freshman first baseman Gabriele Bridges, made Garcia pay with a three-RBI double to extend the lead to 9-0.
The Ragin’ Cajuns would add two more base runners on a walk and a single before LSU senior catcher Killian Roessner ended the inning by picking a runner off first base.
The Tigers began the fifth inning three outs away from a loss by the eight-run rule but continued to fight and kept the game alive with a two-run home run by freshman third baseman Jessica Mouse.
After Garcia held the Ragin’ Cajuns scoreless in the bottom of the inning, the Tigers closed the gap to 9-4 with a two-run home run by senior right fielder Quinlan Duhon.
The Ragin’ Cajuns threatened again to end the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, loading the bases for Soto, but a running catch by Duhon deep in right field ended threat.
UL-Lafayette freshman left fielder Katie Smith quickly returned the favor, robbing Mouse of her second home run to start the seventh inning.
LSU freshman left fielder Ashley Applegate and senior designated player Dee Dee Henderson kept the game alive with back-to-back infield singles, but Brignac promptly shut things down by retiring the next two batters.
LSU rebounded later in the evening, eliminating East Carolina, 9-1, from the tournament. The Tigers will play the Ragin’ Cajuns again Sunday at 1 p.m. LSU must beat UL-Lafayette twice Sunday to advance in the tournament.
If the Tigers lose another game in the regional, it will be their final game of the season and their final game in Tiger Park.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]