No. 16 LSU softball suffered a sweep by an undefeated No. 1 Tennessee to open its first weekend of conference play.
LSU’s 10-game win streak came to a conclusion with the Tigers dropping to 0-3 to begin conference play, sitting at 17-7 overall.
Both teams’ offenses hit crucial home runs to compete with one another, combining for a total of 14 home runs throughout the series.
The at-bats from both teams were nothing short of hot in the final two games. In the second game of the series, LSU and Tennessee combined for a total of 17 runs and 19 hits with seven home runs on the day.
The weekend opened up with Tennessee shutting out the Tigers in Game 1.
Sage Mardjetko started for Tennessee on the mound, throwing her third shutout for the Lady Vols of just this season. She only allowed four hits from the LSU offense.
Heavener began in the circle for LSU, earning her third loss of the season after giving up nine hits, three earned runs and one walk. Heavener only recorded one strikeout in her six innings pitched.
Game 2 went the Tigers’ way to begin, with LSU striking first to get on the scoreboard in a four-run first inning.
Tennessee’s Erin Nuwer started on the mound, with a shaky start as the bases were loaded for the Tigers in the first inning, with Maci Bergeron up to the plate. Bergeron smacked a huge three-run home run to give the Tigers an early 4-0 lead.
Tatum Clopton began on the mound for LSU, giving up three runs on five hits, only pitching two innings. Cece Cellura came in to relieve Clopton and earned her first loss of the season.
Cellura gave up five runs on five hits in her two innings pitched. Paytn Monticelli was brought in to close the game for the Tigers, allowing three runs on four hits.
Maddi Rutan was brought from the infield to the mound to relieve Nuwer, only allowing three hits and two runs in her 3.2 innings pitched.
For the Lady Vols’ offense, Gabby Leach retaliated in the second with a leadoff homerun that put Tennessee on the board. Tennessee then scored six runs on six hits to take a 7-4 lead over LSU in the third.
Then in the fifth inning, three Tigers went yard to bring the game within reach of one, trailing behind the Lady Vols 7-6.
But Tennessee wouldn’t give up. The Lady Vols’ left fielder Taelyn Holley shot one more solo home run to extend the lead to 8-6. Tennessee then clobbered two more balls out of the park to tally three more runs in the inning.
Tennessee eventually won 11-6 to take the series win and look ahead to the sweep against the Tigers.
Game 3 began Sunday with the Tigers on the board first once again, and with none other than Heavener on the mound to hold down the Lady Vols’ bats for as long as she could.
LSU scored the first four runs of the game in the third inning, with freshman Rylie Johnson getting her first collegiate home run to kickstart the offense. Lassiter then knocked in another home run, scoring two more runs for the Tigers. The final run of the inning came from a Tori Edwards’ single that drove Char Lorenz to home plate.
In the bottom of the fourth, Tennessee’s Emma Clarke hit a three-run home run to get them on the board, trailing behind the Tigers by one. Another home run and a sacrifice fly out in the bottom of the fifth handed Tennessee a 5-4 lead.
Mardjetko found herself in a little bit of trouble when three consecutive walks loaded the bases for LSU at the top of the sixth. Tennessee brought in Nuwer to relieve Madjetco, but Nuwer walked the next batter, which allowed LSU to tie the game 5-5.
Nuwer locked down the Tigers’ batters in the top of the seventh, both teams still tied at 5-5.
That brought the game to the last inning, with the Lady Vols having a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the inning, and Heavener having the chance to force another inning in hopes of taking the final game of the series.
In the bottom of the seventh, Leach got on top of a ball that she sent flying over right field, driving in three more runs to walk off the game 8-5.
Tennessee came out on top of the Tigers once again to end the final game of the series with a complete sweep.
The Tigers look to snap their three-game loss streak at Nicholls Tuesday with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
