The LSU softball team spells relief T-U-R-N-E-R.
After pitchers Megan Jolly and Dani Hofer could not close the door on the Southeastern Lions on Wednesday night, Emily Turner recorded the final three outs and the save in the Tigers 6-3 win in Hammond.
Jolly (5-0) earned the win, but was pulled in the fifth inning after allowing three runs.
Hofer came in and kept Southeastern from scoring any more runs. Southeastern loaded the bases in the sixth inning after a hit and two walks, ending Hofer’s outing early.
Turner ended the Lions’ rally with two strikeouts after Killian Roessner tagged a Southeastern runner at home after a wild pitch.
“[Hofer] let the first batter on, but we had a little brain fart in the infield on the second batter,” Roessner said. “[The umpire] started squeezing [the strike zone] a little bit during the third at-bat. I was holding him there, and I was thinking ‘Excuse me, where did your strike zone go?’ But Turner came in and finished [Southeastern] off.”
LSU (36-5, SEC 10-2) returns to Southeastern Conference play against Auburn in Tiger Park this weekend. The Tigers will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday and the series finale will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
LSU has swept its last two SEC series against Kentucky and South Carolina and has a seven-game SEC winning streak.
The Tigers have lost the last four games against No. 20 Auburn (25-10, SEC 6-6), three in the regular season and one in the SEC tournament last season.
“We have to really respect Auburn,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “Two years ago, they had their best recruiting class ever. But a lot of teams had our number last year, and this is a different team we have this year.”
Auburn’s Holly Currie threw a no-hitter in a 4-0 victory over Tennessee Tech on Tuesday, marking her third no-hitter of the season and fourth of her career.
“She is a down-ball pitcher and she gets a lot of strikeouts,” Girouard said. “She is a big, strong girl that can also hurt you with her bat. She led her team in home runs last year. We tried to recruit her here, so we have a lot of respect for her.”
Currie (14-5) has pitched six shutouts and struck out 202 batters this season to go along with her 1.47 ERA.
“We have to be more disciplined against a drop-ball pitcher,” Lauren Castle said. “We have to decide which ball is going to drop out of the strike zone and which pitch will stay up. We have to jump on her if she makes a mistake.”
LSU holds a 26-10 all-time advantage, including a 9-3 edge in Baton Rouge.
 
Contact Matt Vines at mvines@lsureveille.com