The seventh-ranked LSU softball team pitched 16 scoreless innings and allowed just 12 runs to No. 1 Florida over the course of the three games.
But the Tigers (26-8, 3-6 Southeastern Conference) couldn’t manufacture runs when it mattered as they were swept by the Gators ( 33-1, 7-1), capped off with a 6-2 Florida win on Saturday.
“The SEC is a grind,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “The teams that succeed in the SEC are the teams that stay mentally tough even through this. You’re going to fail a lot that’s part of the game of softball, so I think the teams that stay mentally tough and continue fighting and continue grinding it out.”
LSU’s hurlers held the visitors to a season-low hitting clip in the first two games. But the offense could not help those in the circle.
Florida’s pitching staff boxed in the Tigers’ typically potent lineup to a .179 batting average during the series and without a run for 21 of the 23 innings.
The Tigers left 25 on the basepath during the three games and only produced two runs, both in Saturday’s finale.
“We are better than what we’ve shown the last couple of days,” said assistant coach Howard Dobson. “We have to get back to work. Hopefully, [the series] will put some salt in the wound that stirs in their gut a little bit.”
LSU sophomore pitchers Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper both threw complete games from the circle during the first two contest.
Hoover threw seven innings in Game 1 allowing just four hits and struck out 13. But the LSU offense could not produce a run as they fell 3-0.
Walljasper had a similarly commanding performance in Game 2. She tossed eight innings and held the Gators to a season-low three hits, while striking out four.
But again, the Tigers offense failed to plate a run falling again, 3-0.
“They were doing well keeping us off balance, but we saw some pitches go by we should have swung at,” said freshman shortstop Amber Serrett. “Sometimes that’s all you need is just one timely hit to get a run in. That seemed to be what we were lacking.”
In the third game on Saturday, the Tigers’ hurlers couldn’t hold back the floodgates any longer, and the Gators offense lit up.
Florida produced six runs on 10 hits to clinch the series sweep, marking the first time LSU had been swept at home by a SEC opponent at home since 2011 against Tennessee. Hoover, the starting pitcher in Game 3, was chased after four innings pitched and took the loss.
Walljasper replaced her, but did not fare much better. She threw 2.1 innings and gave up four hits, as two more runs crossed home for the final 6-2 scoreline.
The Tigers will look to bounce back next week when the squad travels to Athens for a weekend bout with No. 12 Georgia.
“We were a little more passive than normal this past weekend,” Dobson said. “We’ve got to get back to being ourselves, and not worrying about who we’re playing against. No matter who it is. Just be ourselves and be aggressive. See the things in our plan and get after it… We did a better job [hitting] on [Saturday] but not good enough.”