After losing the first game to No. 1 Florida Gators, 3-0, the seventh-ranked LSU softball team loses its second game of the doubleheader, 3-0, through nine innings.
“I thought we played good defense all day today,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “Both pitchers threw nice games. They did a really good job against our offense.”
A pitchers duel ensued most of the game between LSU sophomore pitcher Allie Walljasper and Florida (32-1, 7-1 SEC) junior pitcher Delanie Gourley.
LSU (26-7, 3-5 Southeastern conference) sophomore pitcher Allie Walljasper, had a strong pitching performance in the circle for the Tigers, retiring 16-straight batters through a single stretch of Game 2.
She finished the game going the distance, giving up three hits and three runs.
Walljasper, a Manteca, California, native, cruised through most of the game until the top of the ninth inning, where she plunked Florida senior Taylore Fuller, and the Gators put another runner base from a fielder’s choice, setting up sophomore utility player Nicole DeWitt to seal the deal.
DeWitt, then, smashed a two-out, three-run homerun to win the game for the Gators.
Florida came into the game sporting a 0.87 earned run average, which was the lowest in the country.
“That’s probably one of the best pitching staffs in the country,” said LSU senior shortstop Bianka Bell. “They just had us on our toes a lot.”
The Tigers came into the series as the ninth-ranked scoring offense in the nation, but failed to score a single run against the back-to-back National Champion Gators.
Even when the Tigers started to gain some type of momentum, their bats went cold, as LSU stranded four out of 26 of its runners on base and added a 4-for-16 clip with runners in scoring position throughout both games.
LSU’s 3-4-5 hole hitters — senior catcher Kellsi Kloss, senior shortstop Bianka Bell and junior second baseman Sahvanna Jaquish — struggled at the plate, and combined to hit 3-for-15 in Friday’s doubleheader.
“Florida did a really good jobs of bearing down,” said Kloss. “That’s what a really good team does and that’s why they’re the two-time national champions.”
In the bottom of the third, after senior first baseman Sandra Simmons was already at second base, sophomore outfielder Emily Griggs hit a single which barely left the infield.
Instead of keeping Simmons at third, Torina sent her home and she was unable to beat the throw at home plate.
“With a team like Florida you kind of have to take your chances,” said senior catcher Kellsi Kloss. “When you do have those opportunities to score you want to go for them. I don’t blame coach one bit.”
LSU came into the series second in the SEC in terms of errors committed with 39, but it played near perfect defense on Friday with only two defensive miscues through both games.
The Tigers will look to salvage the series at 11 a.m. tomorrow in Game 3 of the series against the Gators.