Camille Harris went 3-for-3 with her first home run of the year as the No. 13-ranked LSU softball team cruised past Nicholls State 6-2 on Tuesday night.
LSU (16-3) has won eight straight dating back to their Feb. 26 loss vs. No. 19 Fresno State.
Freshman Quinian Duhon got things started for LSU with a first inning double to left field. After a wild pitch, junior Lauren Castle knocked Duhon in after grounding out to second base.
Nicholls State (4-10) countered in the third inning after junior Andrea Ground blasted a two-run home run to right field to give the Lady Colonels a 2-1 lead.
But LSU got the lead back for good in the bottom of the inning after a throwing error by first baseman Lindsay Coleman scored Castle from third. After outfielder Leslie Klein went down swinging, junior Lauren Delahoussaye batted freshman Vanessa Soto in from third to give LSU a 4-2 lead.
After Harris’ home run in the fourth, LSU capped the game off in the sixth inning after Harris blasted a triple, scoring Kristen Hobbs from first. Harris reached home after a fielding error by second baseman Brandi Hahn.
Coach Yvette Girouard said Harris proved strong thanks to some pregame studying.
“She came and watched some video and thought that she needed to correct some things in her swing,” Girouard said. “It shows that when you do things above and beyond it usually pays off for you.”
According to Harris, the glitch in her swing stemmed from her small size.
“Being so little, I need to use all that I have,” Harris said. “Instead of just using my arms, I needed to start using my whole body, starting with my legs.”
Sophomore Emily Turner got the win, pitching 7.0 innings and allowing just two earned runs on four hits and nine strikeouts.
“We’re just trying to keep the ball in the park,” Girouard said. “[Turner] only gave up four hits, so that’s pretty good.”
LSU also played strong defensively, not allowing an error opposite Nicholls State’s three errors.
Girouard said the win is important, but playing well defensively is the key.
“There’s always something to improve on,” Girouard said. “But when you see zero errors you always have to like that.”
Despite not having a full practice the day before, LSU still managed to out-hit the Lady Colonels 8-4.
Delahoussaye, who batted 1 for 3 with an RBI, said that while she is normally not comfortable without a practice the day before, the win proved different.
“Not being together before a game shakes me up a little,” Delahoussaye said. “But we didn’t show it tonight.”
Delahoussaye added LSU managed to fulfill some of its individual goals.
“We didn’t have any errors, Turner had a great game and we met our scoring run goal of five runs,” Delahoussaye said. “So that’s three great things we’ve taken from the game.”
Following the win, Girouard is just three wins shy of reaching the 1,000-win milestone.
Looking to become just the fourth NCAA Division I coach to reach the plateau, the fifth year LSU coach will see her chance this weekend when LSU begins Southeastern Conference play at South Carolina.