What should’ve been the rivalry of the season quickly turned into a complete blowout as the Lady Tigers didn’t allow the Rajun Cajuns to score all night.
The Tigers entered the field with energy and a determination to start strong, which resulted in 6 runs in the first inning. LSU (24-1) put the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (13-10) down early for a final score of 14-0.
Offensively, first basemen Tori Edwards had a strong game, contributing four RBIs and two runs, one of them being a homerun. She credits their win against the Rajun Cajuns to preparation.
“We just all feel confident,” Edwards said. “Everyone has each other’s backs, and we just feed off of each other. We communicate with each other well. I think we’re just really gritty, and we have a passion, and we know no matter who we’re playing against– we don’t look at that. We’re worried about how we play, and we’re just playing LSU Softball, and it’s going pretty well.”
Pitcher Jayden Heavener pitched successfully against ULL with 6 strikeouts for a total of 78 this season. Head Coach Beth Torina admires Heavener’s growing confidence on the field this game and throughout the season.
“I think she’s just confident in her stuff,” Torina said. “She’s confident in what she does. I think she’s continuing to get better. She’s continuing to locate things better and to execute plans better. She’s growing every time she takes the mound, which is really fun to see.”
After the second inning, the Tigers were up by 8, which suggested the possibility of an enforced mercy rule. ULL responded by tightening up their defense in the third inning, not allowing LSU to score. However, the momentum shifted back to LSU just as quickly in the fourth inning when they got 6 runs against the Rajun Cajuns.
“With the at-bats they’re having, and the base running, they just continue to apply pressure,” Torina said. “It’s really hard to play defense against us and pitch against us, so they did that again.”
Ultimately, the Rajun Cajuns weren’t able to find their rhythm and put themselves on the scoreboard. The fifth inning ended halfway through as the umpires called the game, keeping the Tigers undefeated at Tiger Park.
“The different mentality is what we need to be careful of not doing,” Torina said. “We need to keep playing this brand of LSU Softball that we’ve been playing. I think it doesn’t matter if they have an SEC patch on their shoulder or not. I think we’ve got to make sure we’re just playing as ourselves, playing the best version of LSU Softball that we can and the same brand of softball that we’ve played all year long.”
LSU continues to stay on fire as this is their 9th straight victory. The Lady Tigers look to stay consistent on both sides of the diamond as they return to Tiger Park to battle the No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats on March 14 at 6 p.m.
