The LSU softball team battled unseasonably cold weather Wednesday when the Tigers swept the Northwestern State Demons in a double header.
Junior Emily Turner and freshman Dani Hofer pitched shutouts in the Tigers’ 3-0 and 6-0 wins, respectively, on a windy Wednesday night in Tiger Park.
LSU coach Yvette Girouard called her team’s performance “workman like.”
“There was nothing super exciting,” Girouard said. “We got two wins behind two very good pitching performances. We are kind of going through the motions. Our offense is too one-dimensional, and we need to be clicking on all cylinders.”
In the first game Turner (10-2) pitched her eighth shutout of the season and the 23rd shutout of her career.
She struck out nine batters and only allowed four walks and one hit.
“I felt pretty confident tonight,” Turner said. “The hit that they did get, they earned. I had more walks than usual these past couple of games, but instead of worrying about it, it makes me stronger.”
Junior Leslie Klein put the Tigers ahead 1-0 when she hit a deep sacrifice fly that scored pinch runner Dee Dee Henderson from second base.
“Leslie Klein hit the ball hard and had a fabulous night,” Girouard said. “I haven’t seen [Dee Dee] do that before, but the out fielder caught the ball and held it, so I sent her home.”
Klein hit a combined 3-for-6 with four RBIs and two runs. She is tied with Vanessa Soto for the team lead in RBIs with 29.
With the bases loaded in the third inning, Klein came through again with a two-run single that scored Camille Harris and Lauren Castle.
The Demons(14-19) threatened in the fourth inning with a Lyndsey Gorski triple into right field with two outs. Turner walked the next two batters to load the bases, but she struckout Cary Bruno to end the inning.
In the second game Hofer pitched seven shutout innings with nine strikeouts and allowed only one hit and two walks.
“It was tough for anybody to pitch tonight, so my hat is off to both pitchers,” Girouard said. “She had her stuff working pretty well. It is hard to pitch when you can’t feel your fingers.”
LSU (28-5) loaded the bases in the first inning, and Demons pitcher Michelle Castellano walked Fallon Fisher to give LSU a 1-0 lead.
Erika Sluss added another run to the LSU lead in the third inning when she ricocheted a pitch off Castellano’s foot to score Klein from third.
LSU pushed its lead to 5-0 in the fifth inning when Klein drove in Soto with a deep line drive followed by a Killian Roessner double through the gap to score Fisher and Klein.
Soto gave the Tigers a 6-0 lead on a double to score Castle.
Castle tied the school record for most walks in a game with three. She drew a total of five walks on the night.
Girouard said the team has been searching for a lead-off hitter the entire season, and she was encouraged by Castle’s ability to get on base any way possible.
“I will be running a lot for that,” Castle joked. “I wish it wasn’t walks. I would rather put the bat on the ball and get on base. It’s the leadoff hitter’s job to get on base, but I didn’t get many pitches to hit, so I walked.”
 
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