No. 9 LSU continued the LSU Invitational in day two, facing Memphis and Michigan as they look to redeem themselves from a tough loss to Stanford on day one.
LSU started the night facing Memphis. Both Tigers played hard defense, but it was LSU who came out on top with a 4-0 victory.
“They just showed up better and played better,” head coach Beth Torina said. “I think this was a really good defensive effort facing the minimum, I think that’s pretty impressive. They did a great job defensively and we were really solid.”
LSU took the lead in the first inning. Sophomore pitcher Shelbi Sunseri started out the top of the first with two strikeouts. Junior outfielder Aliyah Andrews was first up to bat for the LSU and got a single, but was out on the next play trying to steal second. Sophomore infielder Taryn Antoine hit a single that eventually led her home on an error.
Top of the second had quick outs to put LSU on the plate again. In the bottom of the second LSU was able to pick up another run through a walk, a single and a fielding error. LSU started the third inning with a three up, three down and ended it just as fast. By the end of the third inning, LSU had the lead with a score of 2-0.
The fourth inning was similar to the first few. Antoine singled up the middle of being down in the count without a hit to pull in an RBI. In the fifth in Sunseri hit her eighth home run of the season, topping her career-best and giving LSU a 4-0 lead.
The sixth inning left both teams scoreless as LSU kept their lead. LSU got three outs in top of the seventh to seal their 4-0 win.
“I think this just shows that the sky’s the limit for this team,” Sunseri said. “I think as long as we continue to fight and pay attention to the little details and work together as a team, like I said the sky’s the limit.”
LSU defeated Michigan for its second win of the day, taking down the Wolverines 2-0.
LSU started the game three up, three down and a hit by senior infielder Amanda Sanchez to take the lead. Both teams fought hard in the second inning leaving the score the same. The third inning was an exact repeat of the first with three outs and an RBI from Sanchez.
Inning four let the Tigers get a hit from senior catcher Michaela Schlattman, but still no runs gained so the LSU kept the lead at 2-0. The fifth and sixth innings ended with a quick three up, three down in the top and bottom of both. Tiger got their second win of the night with a score of 2-0 taking down Michigan.
“We really worked on the things that we didn’t do well yesterday,” freshman pitcher Shelby Wickersham said. “I think that really showed in both games today.”