After sweeping Central Arkansas in a doubleheader contest, the LSU softball headed to Lafayette to kick off the LSU Invitational. The No. 11 Tigers defeated No. 9 Louisiana 4-0 on Thursday, moving their record to 8-3.
Senior Aliyah Andrews put LSU on the board first after reaching home from first base on a double hit to right center from Taylor Pleasants. The Ragin’ Cajuns locked down defense afterward with two outs, and UL pitcher Summer Ellyson struck out batter Georgia Clark to end the top of the first. With senior Maribeth Gorsuch on the mound, LSU didn’t allow any runs or hits from ULL.
Entering the second inning, freshman Ciara Briggs doubled to right center and managed to advance to third. Morgan Cummins, Taylor Tidwell and Savannah Stewart followed her but couldn’t get a hit off. The Tigers brushed off the Cajuns in the same fashion as the last inning with zero runs or hits thanks to the sophomore Tidwell’s quick reflexes.
Both teams endured another scoreless inning before seeing some action from ULL in the fourth. The Ragin’ Cajuns finally got a hit off Gorsuch from batter Alissa Dalton who only managed to advance to second before LSU shut down the inning with two left on base.
LSU’s offense came out much stronger in the fifth when Andrews got back at bat. The senior singled out and gave freshman Anna Jones the chance to advance to third. An error in the outfield allowed freshman Jones to run across the plate. Pleasants came up next and sent one up the middle, advancing to first while Andrews made it to second. ULL recorded their third out of the inning when Pleasants narrowly missed making it to second base. LSU kept Louisiana from advancing to first base while Gorsuch struck out Karly Heath for the third out of the bottom of the fifth.
Shelbi Sunseri went to bat first and tripled to right field. A ball out to center field allowed her to record the Tigers’ second run of the night. LSU exited the top of the sixth with a single run and hit. ULL came the closest to scoring in the sixth inning when a fielding error by LSU allowed them to reach the second and first bases.
LSU started the last inning with a strikeout from Tidwell and Louisiana native Taryn Antoine following with the second out. Andrews picked up the pace once again for the Tigers with a hit to center field as she advanced straight to second base. Pleasants followed with a hit to center field and gave Andrews the chance to hit home for the final score of the night. LSU defense wrapped up the inning with only a single walk.
The Tigers will continue the invitational on Friday against Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. CT back in Baton Rouge. The game will be recorded on SECNetwork+.
