Ohio State had already won the Easton Tiger Classic when LSU took the field Sunday, but the Tigers split a pair of games for a second-place finish, highlighted by two top-5 upsets.LSU (6-4) started the weekend with an extra-innings loss Friday night to the Buckeyes. LSU junior outfielder Kirsten Shortridge was the extent of the LSU offense, as her two hits were the Tigers’ only hits the entire night.”You can’t win games with only two hits — plain and simple,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard on Friday. “We let this one game get away from us. Credit Ohio State because they made something happen, and we did not.”LSU rebounded Saturday with another extra innings performance — this time a 6-5 win against No. 5 Texas A&M.Fueled by a pair of RBIs from LSU freshman infielder Juliana Santos, the Tigers took a 3-2 lead into the game’s final inning. An infield single by Texas A&M with a runner on third tied the game and forced extra innings, where the Aggies capitalized on the tiebreaker to take a late 5-3 lead.LSU responded with a three-hit, three-run eighth inning that saw two runs score on sacrifice hits before LSU junior outfielder Rachel Mitchell scored the game-winner on an infield single.”Rachel Mitchell delivered the way we know and love Rachel Mitchell to hit,” Girouard said. “We’re relying on her for a lot of RBIs. She hasn’t come close to her game yet.”The Tigers’ game Saturday against Sam Houston State was postponed due to rain, so LSU returned to action Sunday against the Aggies.Texas A&M used a two-run first inning to take a 3-1 lead after five innings. But LSU rallied again, this time in the sixth inning, for three runs, highlighted by a two-RBI single by sophomore outfielder Ashley Applegate for a 4-3 win.The Tigers dropped their second game on Sunday in the lowest-scoring game of the weekend. Sam Houston State’s Mandy Gegan drove a home run to left field in extra innings to secure a 1-0 victory.”If it’s 0-2 you’ve got to make sure it’s nowhere close for them to hit it,” said freshman pitcher Brittany Mack. “Mine was a little high, and it didn’t have enough jump and she just barely got it.”It was a weekend of firsts at the new Tiger Park, as LSU opened its first tournament in its state-of-the-art facility.               Santos’ solo shot Saturday against Texas A&M was LSU’s first-ever home run in Tiger Park, and LSU freshman infielder Ashley Langoni performed the Tigers’ second on Sunday.”Me and Mitchell had a race to see who would do it yesterday,” Santos said on Saturday. “And when I hit a home run I told her I was going to beat her.”LSU may have solved some of its pitching problems during the weekend. With senior and junior pitchers Dani Hofer and Cody Trahan recovering from offseason surgeries, Mack (2-1) got the first home appearances of her young career.Mack combined for 25 strikeouts and allowed just 11 hits in two complete starts, and she also earned a save in the Tigers’ second win against Texas A&M.”She’s a bulldog, and good things are going to happen to her,” Girouard said. “She’s going to be a good one when she learns to control herself — for a while there she was existing on one pitch and she still managed to win.”—Contact David Helman at [email protected]