After weather delays pushed back its Women’s College World Series start, the No. 10 LSU softball team began its quest for a National Championship against No. 2 Michigan on Friday.

Despite a solid pitching performance from sophomore hurler Allie Walljasper, the Tigers (50-17) offense could not do enough and fell to the Wolverines (52-5) and their starting gunslinger junior Megan Betsa, 2-0.

Walljasper tossed five scoreless innings and allowed three hits and one walk through the first five frames. In the sixth, two walks and a single loaded the bases with no outs, which ended Walljasper’s in favor of sophomore ace Carley Hoover.

The first batter Hoover faced was Wolverine sophomore first baseman Tera Blanco who blasted a two RBI-double to right field to break the scoreless deadlock. Hoover responded by retiring the next three batters she faced to give her offense a chance to comeback.

They couldn’t take it.

The Tigers’ offense failed to plate a run in the seventh to extend the game. As a unit, the Tigers’ batting order produced only four hits and did not have an inning with multiple hits.

Betsa and the Wolverine defense are primarily responsible for the Tigers’ struggles at the plate. Betsa allowed six base runners throughout the contest and struck out eight.

With the defeat, LSU tumbles into the loser’s bracket and will have to defy history to claim a championship. Only twice in the last 34 years has team lost its WCWS opener and won the National Title.
If the Tigers want to be the third, they’ll have to defeat Southeastern Conference rival Alabama in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The teams met earlier this season in a weekend series, and LSU took two of the three contests from the Crimson Tide.