Everything finally clicked for the No. 6 LSU softball team in its 7-1 win against No. 8 Auburn in the Tigers’ home finale Sunday afternoon.
After dropping its second-straight Southeastern Conference series for the first time in 2015, the Tigers (44-10, 15-9 SEC) avoided a sweep with a gem in the circle by freshman pitcher Carley Hoover (14-4) coupled with a dominant offensive performance.
With the win, LSU clinches the fourth seed in the SEC Tournament and will play the winner of No. 5 seed Tennessee and No. 12 seed Kentucky at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at Tiger Park.
“Honestly, it was a must-win in my opinion,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “It made us not play on the first day of the SEC Tournament. It bumped us to Day 2, got us the bye and got us momentum.”
Although she allowed just two earned runs on three hits against Auburn’s powerful lineup in Game 1 on Friday night, Hoover shut down Auburn’s offense in Game 3 by notching 12 strikeouts, which ties her career-best, despite surrendering a run in the second.
After Hoover allowed a walk and a single in the top of the second, junior left fielder Tiffany Howard put Auburn on the board with an RBI single to center field.
In the next five innings, Hoover battled back by tallying seven strikeouts looking, including three in the third inning alone. Hoover’s dominance in the circle fired up her defense, which played error-free behind her after committing three in Game 2.
“My defense was playing amazing and that drives me,” Hoover said. “It’s really hard to go out there and not compete when we’re putting up runs like we did today.”
Despite tallying only one run on seven hits in the first two games against Auburn’s (46-9, 18-6 SEC) pitching staff, LSU’s lineup rebounded by scoring seven runs on 10 hits after Auburn got on the board first.
The Tigers’ lineup came alive with four-straight hits in the bottom of the third to take their first lead in the series.
Freshman left fielder Emily Griggs started the rally with LSU’s first hit of the day, a single to left field. Senior center fielder A.J. Andrews and sophomore right fielder Bailey Landry loaded the bases with back-to-back bunt singles, bringing junior shortstop Bianka Bell to the plate.
On the third pitch of the at-bat, Bell smashed a double deep to the outfield wall in right center, driving in two runs while Auburn picked off Landry at home and Bell at third.
“I thought it was a home run,” Torina said. “I wasn’t sure, so I was trying to round the baserunners as quickly as I could.”
In the bottom of the fourth, junior first baseman Sandra Simmons added another run with her third homer of the season, her second in the last five games.
The Tigers’ lineup blew the game open with three consecutive RBI singles to left field in the fifth even after Auburn replaced starting junior pitcher Marcy Harper (10-4) with junior Rachael Walters (16-3).
After Griggs and Landry drew walks off Walters, sophomore third baseman Sahvanna Jaquish ripped a single and drove in Griggs for her 67th RBI of the season. Junior catcher Kellsi Kloss and Simmons drove in two more runs with singles, extending LSU’s lead to 6-1. Landry capped off the Tigers’ scoring with an RBI single in the sixth.
The Tigers’ win sends out the senior class with a win and gives the team momentum heading into the SEC Tournament.
“These seniors mean so much to this program,” Hoover said. “They’re a huge reason why we are sitting where we’re at today and why we won this game today.”
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR