Bottom of the ninth inning, one out, a runner at second with the score tied 3-3 — not the typical situation in a softball game, but LSU’s Christy Connor used it to her advantage.
Connor blasted a two-run, game-winning shot over the right field wall to give LSU (19-6, 2-1 SEC) a 5-3 win over Nicholls State (9-12). It was Connor’s fourth home run of the year, and the senior infielder went 2-for-5 in the game with two runs scored.
“I’m happy for [Christy] Connor,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We need Connor to swing the stick, and that was a big blow right there.”
With the score tied after the regulation seven innings, the teams went to extra innings. The Tigers got out of a jam in the top half of the eighth, with a runner at third base and one out, Schmidt retired the next two batters to keep the game alive.
LSU appeared to have won the game in the bottom of the eighth inning when shortstop Blair Smith hit the ball near the top of the fence, but it bounced onto the field and the umpire ruled it a double. Nicholls pitcher Dione Meier (4-4) then retired the next two batters.
“You worry that the momentum goes to the other team, but we always keep talking about fighting,” Girouard said. “The bottom line is once again we found a way to win.”
The Tigers took an early 3-0 lead, scoring runs in the first three innings and sustaining the advantage on solid pitching from Kristen Schmidt (11-5).
“I felt good early in the game tonight,” Schmidt said. “It went a little longer than we thought, but it’s still a good win.”
The junior pitched a complete game, striking out a career-high 14 batters. Schmidt struck out the side in the fifth and seventh innings and scattered four hits, giving up one earned run.
Girouard said after the team took the lead, it became complacent and did not put Nicholls away when it had the bases loaded in two innings.
“We didn’t show much discipline; we knew exactly what was going to happen, and we didn’t make adjustments,” Girouard said.
Nicholls battled back in the top of the sixth inning when Chrissy Jenkins scored on a groundout after reaching on an error, and Kristina Swart scored on a Stephanie Sasser RBI double. The Colonels then tied the game on a Lindsay Coleman single.
“It made a momentum shift for Nicholls,” Schmidt said. “But I kind of got the ball to the outfield at the right moment, and then we got a key hit. We definitely had to beat everybody tonight. We came through in the end.”
Girouard said the two errors in the inning allowed Nicholls back in the game, and the team cannot afford costly errors against conference foes.
“This is what we pound into our kids heads,” Girouard said. “In-state schools are going to come in here, and they’ve got nothing to lose. If we kick the ball around, we’re going to be in trouble.”