After playing three top-ranked opponents in the Palm Springs Classic in Palm Springs, Calif., last weekend, the No. 19 softball team played area rival Southeastern in Tiger Park on Thursday.
Pitcher Emily Turner allowed three hits and struck out 12 batters in a 6-0 LSU win.
“It was important for her to throw tonight,” said coach Yvette Girouard. “She had a rough outing against Oregon State, and I wanted her to get back a little confidence. Her ball moved like she was in control.”
Turner (5-1) has pitched five shutouts with an ERA below 1.0 and 42 strikeouts this season.
The Lady Tigers (17-3) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Leslie Klein hit a line drive past the shortstop to score Dee Dee Henderson from second.
Camille Harris drove in Shannon Stein and Heidi Robin in the second inning to put LSU up 3-0.
Klein drove in two runs and Hill added another to finish off the Lady Lions.
Over the weekend, LSU went 2-3 in the Palm Springs Classic.
No. 6 Stanford scored a run in their last at-bat to beat LSU 1-0 Sunday. The Lady Tigers recorded only one hit in the game and stranded six baserunners with four in scoring position.
Freshman pitcher Dani Hofer (5-2) scattered three hits and struck out seven in the losing effort against Stanford.
On Friday, Hofer allowed two hits and struck out two batters in the tournament-opening 3-1 loss against No. 3 UCLA.
After a sacrifice fly scored a Bruin run in the first inning, Emily Zaplatosch hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.
No. 11 Oregon State hit three home runs off Turner to storm past the Lady Tigers 5-1 in the second game Friday.
Turner allowed four runs, her first of the season, in 3.2 innings.
“I had to come out and show that the Oregon State game didn’t affect me any,” Turner said after the Southeastern game. “All these teams are just a jersey with a name on it. When we played UCLA, Oregon State and Stanford, we are right there as far as competition goes.”
The Tigers rebounded Saturday when Tiffany Garcia (4-0) pitched five scoreless innings in relief of Jolly to lead LSU past Texas Tech 4-3.
Vanessa Soto blasted a three-run home run to cap a 4-run third inning.
Later that day, Hofer guided LSU past California-Santa Barbara 6-1 by striking out nine batters and allowing one unearned run.
Soto and Stephanie Hill each hit a solo home run to put the game out of the Lady Gauchos reach.
Soto went 8-13 at the plate with two home runs and six RBIs in the tournament.
I had my family in California supporting me,” Soto said. “I knew we were playing tough competition, so I got focused and came through for my team when I could.”
 
Contact Matt Vines at [email protected]