Senior infielders Bianka Bell and Sandra Simmons have been the cornerstones for the LSU softball team throughout their collegiate careers.
When the team faced the No. 10 Tennessee, the fourth-year players stepped up yet again.
The No. 12 Tigers (45-14) defeated the Volunteers (41-14) 3-1 in eight innings in Starkville, Mississippi to advance into its first Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship Game since 2010.
Bell opened up the scoring in the first inning with a solo shot over the left field wall. After Bell’s longshot, the game became a pitchers’ duel until the fifth.
LSU sophomore starting pitcher Allie Walljasper allowed a single and walked two more to load the bases with two outs. With the bases juiced, she threw a pitch into the back of Tennessee junior right fielder Shaliyah Geathers to bring home the tying run.
The hit-by-pitch was the final straw, and Tigers sophomore Carley Hoover replaced Walljasper in the circle.
Hoover took control of the contest, allowing only two hits, while striking out six in 3.1 innings of relief. But she couldn’t end the game without more offense.
After two more scoreless innings and the game went into the eighth, Simmons was happy to oblige.
Fresh off a game-winning three-run homer in the quarterfinal matchup with No. 11 Kentucky, the senior infielder stepped up to the dish. She swung on a 0-2 count and blasted one deep to center just long enough to eclipse the fences.
The Volunteers responded with a one-out double, but that is all they could muster and were sent packing.
The Tigers will face the winner of No. 1 Florida and No. 8 Auburn on Saturday at 4 p.m. in the Championship Game. LSU has not played Auburn this year and Florida swept them in a late March series.
If Florida wins against Auburn, it will give LSU a fourth straight game with the chance to extract revenge. They opened with a first round victory against Texas A&M, who won two of three in the regular season, on Wednesday.
They followed up by defeating the Wildcats Thursday, which also swept them, before outlasting the Volunteers, the team that eliminated from the 2015 SEC tourney, on Friday.
