The No. 9 LSU softball team faced stiff competition during the weekend in the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., and it responded.
The Tigers capped off a successful weekend Sunday by defeating No. 10 Oklahoma, 7-4, in nine innings.
LSU fell behind 4-0 after three innings but used a mixture of timely hitting and control problems for Oklahoma pitchers to come back and record the victory.
“This was just a great, great win for the Tigers,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “I am very proud of my team for the way they came out here today after we let one slip away last night. There is a lot of fight in the Tigers and that is exactly what we did here today. We fought until the end and came away with a big win.”
The Sooners got on the board in the first inning after Tiger shortstop Blair Smith dropped a pop-up by Kelli Braitsch with two outs. Leah Gulla subsequently hit a home run to put OU up 2-0.
Gulla then hit another two-run blast in the third inning, and LSU found itself down 4-0.
LSU then mounted a rally in the fourth inning.
Julie Wiese led off with a walk but was gunned out trying to advance to third on a Christy Connor single.
Then Tessa Lynam, pinch running for Connor, advanced to third on a Smith single. Alicia Owen walked the bases full, and the Sooners’ pitching problems started.
Jennie Reeves then walked, and LSU pulled to 4-1.
Camille Harris also walked, and the Tigers found themselves trailing by only two runs.
LaDonia Hughes singled in Owens and Reeves, and the game was knotted 4-4.
The game then went to extra innings after seven innings, with each team starting each inning with a player on second for tie-breaking purposes.
In the top-of-the-ninth, Megan Steege scored off a Hughes double, and Sara Fitzgerald nailed a two-run homerun to push the Tigers to a 7-4 win.
The Tigers played a twin bill on Saturday, facing Villanova in its season opener before taking on No. 7 Cal State Fullerton, a team LSU defeated earlier in the season, in the nightcap.
Against the Wildcats of Villanova, Lynam pitched a complete game to improve her record to 6-0 on the season. In the Tigers’ 6-2 victory, Lynam allowed eight hits while striking out eight batters.
LSU fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but were able to respond with four runs of its own in the top of the second inning.
Smith started the rally with a single and moved over to second when Owens reached on an error. A Megan Steege single loaded the bases with one out in the inning. Jennie Reeves then walked to force in Smith, and the score was tied at one.
Harris, who went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBIs, slammed a double to left-center field that scored Owens and Steege and put the Tigers up, 3-1. Reeves then scored on a wild pitch for a 4-1 advantage.
The score remained the same until the top of the sixth when the Tigers pushed two insurance runs across home plate off a Sarah Fitzgerald single with two outs that scored Harris and LaDonia Hughes.
Villanova mustered one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning to finish the scoring and give LSU the final margin of victory, 6-2.
The only blemish of the Tigers’ weekend came in the Saturday nightcap against Cal St. Fullerton, when the LSU fell, 7-6.
After shooting out to a 6-4 lead, LSU had to sit through a 38-minute rain delay in the bottom of the sixth inning.
In the top of the seventh, Cal St. scored three unearned runs on two fielding errors.
“I am disappointed because we just let one slip away in the end against Cal St. Fullerton,” Girouard said.
LSU returns to action Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Tiger Park when it faces McNeese State.