Ohio State had already won the Easton Tiger Classic when LSU took the field Sunday, but the Tigers split a pair of games for a second-place finish, highlighted by two top-5 upsets.LSU (6-4) started the weekend with an extra-innings loss to the Buckeyes on Friday night. Junior center fielder Kirsten Shortridge was the extent of the LSU offense, as her two hits were the Tigers’ only hits on the entire night.”You can’t win games with only two hits plain and simple,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard on Friday. “We let this one game get away from us. Credit Ohio State because they made something happen, and we did not.”The Tigers’ second game Saturday against Sam Houston State was postponed due to rain, so LSU returned to action Sunday against the Aggies.Texas A&M used a two-run first inning to take a 3-1 lead after five innings. But LSU rallied again, this time in the sixth inning, for three runs, highlighted by a two-RBI single by sophomore outfielder Ashley Applegate for a 4-3 win.The Tigers dropped their second game on Sunday in the lowest-scoring game of the weekend. Sam Houston State’s Mandy Gegan drove a home run to left field in extra innings to secure a 1-0 victory.”If it’s 0-2 you’ve got to make sure it’s nowhere close for them to hit it,” said freshman pitcher Brittany Mack. “Mine was a little high, and it didn’t have enough jump and she just barely got it.”
Mack combined for 25 strikeouts and allowed just 11 hits in two complete starts, and she also earned a save in the Tigers’ second win against Texas A&M.”She’s a bulldog, and good things are going to happen to her,” Girouard said. “She’s going to be a good one when she learns to control herself — for a while there she was existing on one pitch and she still managed to win.”
 
 
 
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Contact David Helman at [email protected]