Tigers split with Mississippi State
The clock nearly struck midnight, but for three hours and twenty-one minutes it seemed neither squad wanted to win the game.
Errors, clutch pitching and baserunning blunders made game two of a softball doubleheader between LSU and conference foe Mississippi State an 11 inning marathon.
But in the end, the Tigers, who won the first contest of the day, 9-3, were not able to come through at the plate and suffered an 8-7 loss at Tiger Park.
LSU made three errors in the second game.
“We literally gave it away,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “We had key people up at key opportunities to break it open, and we didn’t. It was one of those hard lessons to learn, but when you look at a game like this, maybe it wasn’t meant to be won.”
Kristin Schmidt (7-3) went the distance for the Tigers pitching all 11 innings in the loss. She gave up four earned runs, but struck out 14 hitters.
The Tigers trailed 8-6 going into the bottom of the 11th. LSU scored a run with back-to-back singles by Aleshia Perry and Trena Peel to pull within one run. With Perry and Peel at third and second, second baseman April Janzen hit a line drive to State center fielder Iyhia McMichael.
McMichael caught the liner and doubled up Perry as she tried to tag up from third base. Head coach Yvette Girouard said her decision to send Perry may have been the wrong one at the time. First baseman Christy Connor was on deck and would have had two runners in scoring position.
“In retrospect I shouldn’t have sent her,” Girouard said. “That would have been just one out with key batters up. [Perry’s] so fast, and it takes a perfect play to get her, and that’s what they did.”
The Tigers took the early 3-0 lead on State. However, State countered with a three-run sixth inning capped by a two-run homer by left fielder Tyeah Patterson.
LSU scored twice in the bottom of the sixth and held a firm 5-3 lead with two outs in the top of the seventh, just one out away from a victory. Then it happened.
An error by second baseman Sara Fitzgerald gave State hope. State tacked on two runs on two RBI singles, but Perry helped the Tigers when she threw out a State runner trying to score for the third out.
Both teams scored a run in the 10th inning, before State was able to come out on top in the 11th.
In the first game, LSU jumped on State right from the beginning. The Tigers scored seven runs in the first two innings.
Leadoff hitter Trena Peel had consecutive singles in consecutive innings, while scoring two runs. The top three in the LSU lineup combined to score six runs in the first two innings.
In the second contest, Peel had a possible home run taken away as an umpire ruled Perry left the base too early. Peel’s triple in the nightcap tied her for the LSU career record for triples with former Tiger star Dee Douglas with 20.
“[Peel] had a night tonight,” Girouard said. “When you think about the fact that she had a two run home run taken away from her; she had a great night.”
Connor hit a titanic blast to dead center field off the flag pole. The three-run, second-inning homer gave the Tigers a commanding 7-0 lead.
Britni Sneed (10-4) earned the win. Sneed went all seven innings, giving up three earned runs while striking out 14.
The series wraps up today at 2 p.m. at Tiger Park.
Chris Gibson