The bright lights, rowdy crowd and national television audience didn’t seem to faze the LSU softball team Thursday night. The Tigers looked right at home. Behind a masterful performance by senior pitcher Cody Trahan and an offensive explosion, LSU tattooed No. 8 Georgia, 5-1, at Tiger Park. ESPN broadcasted the game. “It was an unbelievable night,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “Maybe opening night was close. But the excitement from the crowd — they were into the game. I guess they knew the importance of it. We needed to beat Georgia. We needed a good showing. We also needed a good showing on national television. And wow, did the fans ever show up. It energized our team. The team was so pumped up.”Trahan quenched Georgia’s mighty bats with a seven-inning, five-hit outing with only one earned run. She didn’t falter early either. Trahan tossed first-pitch strikes to the first 11 batters she faced, an area she struggled with early in her career. “That’s what kept her back all these years,” Girouard said. “You don’t have the luxury of any kind of big movement when you’re always working behind. We’ve preached and preached, and I know she got sick of it, but you have to work ahead. That’s the key to her this year.”Trahan was more modest. She credited the defense for shaving some hits off her final line. “Pitches get hit sometimes,” Trahan said. “It’s amazing to have Mitch, Shortridge and Langoni and everybody in the outfield. They did an amazing job tonight. Had they not made some of the plays they did, who knows what would have happened this game. Georgia swings the bat hard every pitch. So it’s nice to have a good defense behind me.”Meanwhile, LSU’s offense got started early. The Tigers battered Bulldog sophomore right-hander Erin Arevalo for five earned runs, forcing her out of the game after just two innings of work. “We jumped on them quick,” Girouard said. “I think that got the crowd even more excited.”LSU senior centerfielder Kirsten Shortridge slapped Arevalo’s first pitch of the evening into center field for a base hit. It would only get worse from there for Arevalo. Two batters later, sophomore left fielder Ashley Langoni drove a single to left field to drive Shortridge in. Arevalo then proceeded to walk the bases loaded, leading to another LSU run. The Tigers trotted out a total eight batters in the first inning. Arevalo threw 35 pitches in the frame. The second inning was much of the same. Trahan sent the Bulldogs back to their dugout in order. Senior right fielder Rachel Mitchell took care of business in the bottom half. Mitchell belted an Arevalo offering over the centerfield wall for her sixth home run of the season. More noteworthy was that the home run was the 33rd of Mitchell’s career, making her the all-time leader in LSU history. Leslie Klein, a former three-time All-American for LSU, was the previous record holder. Klein played from 2004-07. “I didn’t realize until about second base,” Mitchell said. “Then I was like, ‘Oh, I totally broke the record!’ It was nice.”The Tigers won’t have much time to relish the victory. The squads square off today in a doubleheader. The games are slated to start at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., with the second contest airing on ESPNU. “Georgia is not dead,” Girouard said. “This is a team that not much affects them. We’re going to see some Bulldogs coming out here fighting tomorrow. It’s nothing I don’t expect from them.”
 
 
 
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