If the season is a wave, the Tigers aren’t finished riding it.The No. 14 LSU softball team swept Ole Miss in a doubleheader Wednesday night at Tiger Park, increasing its winning streak to 18 games, the most in LSU coach Yvette Girouard’s tenure with the Tigers.”The biggest difference has been our team chemistry,” said senior pitcher Cody Trahan. “On and off the field, we’re a tight-knit group of girls.”The Tigers (23-4, 5-0) outlasted the Rebels (16-12, 3-4), 2-1, in a tight contest in game two, taking advantage of Ole Miss errors.The ball didn’t leave the infield in the third inning, but the Tigers still manufactured a run.Senior center fielder Kirsten Shortridge, reigning National Softball Player of the Week, stole second base after smacking an infield single. Shortridge moved to third base on a groundout by junior right fielder Ashley Applegate and scored on a fielding error by Ole Miss senior pitcher Becky Nye later in the inning to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.”The pitcher was so worried about [Shortridge] with two outs that she didn’t field the ball cleanly,” Girouard said.The Rebels knotted the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning. Sophomore third baseman Cali Overbeck doubled to left-center field off LSU sophomore pitcher Brittany Mack, and sophomore second baseman Corrine Doornberg drove her home with a single to left field.That was the end of the road for Mack, who tossed four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Fico replaced her.Shortridge wasn’t done scoring. She reached first on an infield single and stole second base in the fifth inning in similar fashion to her steal in the third inning. Applegate hit a shot which Doornberg couldn’t handle, and Shortridge came in to score from second base, putting the Tigers up again, 2-1.”I’m confident that Apple’s going to back me up and do what she has to do,” Shortridge said.Two runs were enough with Fico (9-2) on the mound. She threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings to receive the win.”Fico’s almost like the perfect closer,” Girouard said.The road to victory was less arduous for the Tigers in the first game of the doubleheader.The Tiger bats lit up like fireworks in the fourth inning to carry LSU past Ole Miss, 7-1. Sophomore first baseman Anissa Young doubled twice and knocked in two runs in the fourth inning.The Tigers totaled six runs in the inning, including a suicide squeeze by sophomore catcher Morgan Russell and an RBI single to center field by freshman shortstop Allison Falcon.Sophomore designated player Juliana Santos tallied the first run of the game, scoring on a wild pitch in the second inning.The Rebels scored on a solo home run by senior shortstop Lauren Grill to put Ole Miss on the board, 7-1, in the sixth inning.It marked only the second run surrendered by Trahan in 46 innings pitched. Her fourth-inning walk was also only her second walk given up this year, compared to 51 strikeouts.Trahan gave up one run in six innings, striking out six and walking one.”We know we can come in as a pitching staff and shut them down,” Trahan said.Fico shut the door in the seventh inning, retiring all three Rebel batters she faced.—-Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]