Georgia did something this past weekend that no other softball team has ever been able to do to LSU — win a three-game series at Tiger Park.
The No. 7 Bulldogs overcame a 10-2 first game loss, to take games two and three from the No. 5 Tigers, 6-2 and 4-2, respectively.
Georgia (27-6, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) took the rubber match 4-2 on Sunday behind the right arm of Katie Griffith. Griffith (10-2) gave up only one hit in her complete game effort.
Second baseman Sara Fitzgerald said Griffith’s performance was good, but was helped by poor judgment on the behalf of Tigers batters.
“She threw a one-hitter, but we really just got ourselves out today,” Fitzgerald said. “Everyone has their good days and their bad days. We are going to have days when we crush, but we are also going to have days when we are off.”
Coach Yvette Girouard said Griffith’s performance was just what she expected it would be.
“She obviously kept us off balance,” Girouard said. “She was not overpowering us, but I knew she was a good pitcher because we recruited her last season. She came here on a visit, but she chose Georgia.”
The Bulldogs pulled ahead in the top of the third when Nicole Barber blasted a two-out double off the center field wall, scoring Ashley Godfrey from third.
Georgia added two runs in the fourth inning and one more run in the sixth to take a 4-0 lead.
Shortstop Lauren Delahoussaye provided the only runs for the Tigers (27-6, 7-3 SEC) in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-run home run to left field, her seventh of the season.
The home run scored Leslie Klein from first and cut the Georgia lead in half at 4-2.
Delahoussaye, who had the only hit of the game for the Tigers, said she wished the home run would have been able to provide LSU with more of a spark to make a comeback.
“I wish I would have done it earlier because it definitely gets the team going,” Delahoussaye said.
LSU senior pitcher Kristin Schmidt (16-4), who won game one of the series, received the loss for the Tigers.
Schmidt pitched a complete game eight-hitter, allowing four runs and striking out five Bulldogs batters.
LSU and UGA split the Saturday doubleheader, with the Tigers winning the first game 10-2 and the Bulldogs taking the second game 6-2.
In game one, the Bulldogs jumped out to a two-run lead in the top of the first. But that was all the Bulldogs would get for the remainder of the game as Schmidt stifled UGA hitters through the next five innings.
LSU captured the lead for good in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run by first baseman Stephanie Hill, her SEC-leading eighth of the season. The home run gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead that they would not relinquish.
The game was called in the sixth inning as the Tigers led by eight, 10-2.
Girouard said the win in the first game for the Tigers seemed to inspire the Bulldogs to play harder in games two and three.
“Georgia acted like nothing happened after we run-ruled them,” Girouard said. “It did not faze them in the least. They came back even more determined.”
In game two, the Bulldogs’ bats awoke to pound out 11 hits against freshman pitcher Emily Turner (10-3).
In the fourth inning, LSU was able to push across its first run of the game on a Julie Wiese RBI-single to center field and cut the Georgia lead to 4-1.
The Bulldogs put two more runs on the board in the sixth to extend their lead to 6-1. LSU would get only one more run in the final two innings.
Saturday’s attendance at Tiger Park, 1,238, was the largest regular-season attendance in LSU softball history.