The No. 25 LSU softball team swept the Tiger Classic tournament this weekend, winning all six games including two victories against No. 11 Washington.
The Tigers (12-0) won the championship game 4-0 on Sunday against the Huskies behind a shutout performance by junior pitcher Emily Turner. Turner scattered six hits and two walks over seven innings and struck out six batters.
“I wasn’t nervous about the game today because we have looked spectacular out there all weekend,” Turner said. “I had no doubts that our defense would back me up and they did.”
Senior Lauren Castle scored on a sacrifice fly ball by sophomore Vanessa Soto in the first inning to give LSU an early 1-0 lead.
Castle scored again on a balk by Washington pitcher Danielle Lawrie to take a 2-0 lead in the third inning.
LSU added a run in the sixth and seventh innings to secure the 4-0 victory.
“We played very, very well especially considering these horrible weather conditions,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “The pitchers were very focused, the defense has been phenomenal and the hitters are swinging the bat with some confidence.”
Despite the cold and rainy conditions Saturday, freshman pitcher Dani Hofer pitched LSU to their first win over Washington, 2-0. Hofer (4-0) allowed three hits and four walks and struck out seven batters in her shutout effort.
“She didn’t dominate like she had been, but we figured that she wouldn’t because this is a very good Pac-10 team,” Girouard said. “She absolutely made pitches when she had to and that’s a mark of a very good pitcher. She controlled the hitters, and our defense really backed her up too.”
No. 9 hitter Andrea Smith hit her second home run of the season just inside the left field foul pole to put LSU up 1-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning.
“[Washington pitcher Caitlin Noble] had been throwing me outside the whole time,” Smith said. “She threw one inside, and I got my hands around on it. I thought it was going foul at first, but it just made it fair.”
The Huskies threatened in the sixth inning after Hofer loaded the bases with a two-out walk.
But Hofer struck out pinch hitter Ashlyn Watson on three pitches to end the inning.
“I had a lot nerves building up in that situation,” Hofer said. “We were playing Washington and the bases were loaded, and we only had one run. I had to do my job of trying to make it an easy base hit or a strike out. I had to keep the run from scoring.”
LSU began the weekend with a 5-0 win over Eastern Michigan and a 9-0 win against Mississippi Valley on Friday.
The Tigers picked up two wins against Western Kentucky 10-0 on Saturday and 3-1 on Sunday.
The LSU pitching staff combined to allow just one run and 20 hits in 44 innings of play over the weekend.
Tournament MVP Leslie Klein led the Tigers at the plate, batting nine for 17 with five runs and one RBI.
 
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