The No. 1 LSU softball team rolled into a top-12 showdown with No. 11 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, with one goal in mind – get back on track.
After dropping their first midweek game of the season, 9-4, against Mississippi State on Wednesday night, the Tigers (38-5, 11-4 Southeastern Conference) ran away with Game 1 and Game 2 to clinch the program’s first series victory at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
In the first two games, the Tigers power hitters’ shined, tallying five homers.
“They did a good job of staying to the plan,” said LSU coach Beth Torina.
But the Lady Volunteers (30-11, 8-7 SEC) did not go away quietly in Game 3, bouncing back with a 8-5 victory Sunday afternoon to avoid Tennessee’s first sweep at home this season.
Although the Tigers dominated the first two games, the Lady Vols and the Tigers battled back and forth before Tennessee took command with a three-run home run by sophomore catcher Annie Aldrete in the third.
LSU struck first in the top of the second inning when junior catcher Kellsi Kloss blasted a solo homer to center field, her eighth of the season.
Tennessee answered in the bottom of the frame by scoring two runs to take the lead. But the Tigers rebounded with a two-run inning of their own in the top of the third.
After sophomore right fielder Bailey Landry reached on a fielder’s choice and junior shortstop Bianka Bell singled, sophomore third baseman Sahvanna Jaquish drove in Landry from second with a single through the right side.
In the next at-bat, Kloss drove in another run with her seventh double of the season. The hit would have added another, but Tennessee’s Aldrete tagged Jaquish out at the plate on the play.
The Lady Vols lineup caught fire against LSU’s pitching rotation and the Tigers’ lineup went flat after the bottom of the third.
Although she came the game leading LSU in ERA, sophomore pitcher Baylee Corbello (9-1) allowed four earned runs in her 2 1/3 innings of work and picked up her first loss of the season.
After Corbello gave up her first walk and a single in the third, Aldrete sparked the Lady Vols with a three-run shot over the left field wall. With the homer, Tennessee regained the lead and never looked back.
Despite making the change to freshman pitcher Carley Hoover (11-2) after Aldrete’s homer, LSU couldn’t shut down the Lady Vols’ lineup.
In the fourth, Tennesee’s junior left fielder Lexi Overstreet hit her fourth homer of the season. The Lady Vols added two more runs on RBI singles to extend their lead to 8-3.
The Tigers cut Tennessee’s lead with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, but couldn’t complete the comeback after Kloss’ second home run of the game in the seventh.
Despite the rotation’s struggles in Game 3, the Tigers shut down the Lady Vols in the first two games, tallying 18 strikeouts and only four walks.
“I don’t think we had a very good game today, but it’s difficult to keep an offense like that down for three games,” Torina said.
Although the lineup has depended on Bell and Jaquish for long balls this season, Kloss emerged as another power threat, hitting three homers and four RBIs in the series.
“[Kloss] did a great job of looking for her pitch and really making things happen,” Torina said.
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR