Southern Miss did something Wednesday night it had not done in its two prior meetings with the LSU softball team — lost by less than 10 runs.
For the third consecutive time this season, the LSU softball team dominated Southern Mississippi, winning its third meeting of the season with the Golden Eagles 8-0 last night at the USM Softball Complex.
LSU (23-4) won the previous two meetings this season by a combined score of 32-3, both wins coming in the Purple and Gold Challenge at Tiger Park.
Senior right-hander Kristin Schmidt (13-2) pitched a complete-game three- hitter for the Tigers, striking out seven batters and allowing no walks.
Designated player Lauren Castle led all Tigers batters in hits with three, while Leslie Klein scored two runs on a 2-for-3 night.
USM pitcher Jessica Holaway (4-4) gave up 12 hits, two walks and seven earned runs in the losing performance.
The Tigers started the scoring in the first on an RBI single from first baseman Stephanie Hill. LaDonia Hughes and Lauren Castle led the game off with back-to-back singles and Hill followed with a single to left field that scored Hughes from third.
Camille Harris’s two-out walk in the second supplied LSU with its second run of the night. Harris then stole second, her 10th of the year, and scored as a Hughes ground ball was misplayed by USM second baseman Charity Butler and ricocheted into the outfield.
LSU added two more runs in the third to pull out to a 4-0 advantage.
Lauren Delahoussaye continued the scoring barrage in the fifth with a three-run home run to left field, her fifth of the season. Third baseman Julie Wiese walked and moved to third on a single to center field by catcher Leigh Ann Danos. Second baseman Sara Fitzgerald capped the scoring with a single to left field that scored Wiese to extend the Tigers’ lead to 8-0.
LSU continues its SEC schedule this weekend at Tiger Park with a three-game series against South Carolina.