The Tigers closed out the Purple and Gold Challenge going 4-0 and sweeping both its opponents on Sunday.

Junior pitcher Carley Hoover capped off the Tigers’ game throwing 10 strikes on 99 pitches. Whatever the team lacked in offense, Hoover made up for in her pitching. Hoover didn’t let up a hit until the sixth inning.

“The way our offense performed today, we’re lucky that we had her throwing such a great game on the mound for us,” coach Beth Torina said.

With two outs, junior outfielder Emily Griggs hit an RBI single which advanced sophomore shortstop Amber Serrett to third base. Senior outfielder Bailey Landry notched her 10th RBI of the weekend putting the Tigers ahead 2-0.

The Tigers struggled offensively to make anything happen for the rest of the game and compiled five hits.

“It’s hard to come out here and have a ‘Day 1’ mentality every single day,” Hoover said of the lacking offense. “So that’s something we need to work on.”

Sophomore third baseman Shemiah Sanchez went 2-for-3 and Landry and Griggs both had an RBI in the final game of the weekend.

“What we didn’t have in offense today, [Hoover] definitely had in defense,” Landry said. “When you have a dominant pitcher out there it just sets the tone for the rest of the game. She had [the other team] in her power.”

The Bears got their first hit of the game in the sixth inning. UCA had runners on the corners and were in a spot to tie the game up, but Hoover stranded the runners on an inning-ending strike.

“One-hitters come with good pitch calls and great defense and I think we had that today,” Hoover said.

Earlier on Sunday, the Tigers defeated Georgia Southern 7-4 in a back and forth affair.

Landry went perfect at the plate going 4-for-4 against GSU and notched four RBIs.

“I’m glad she is on our team because she’s special,” Torina said.

The offense wasted no time and came out swinging. Freshman infielder Amanda Doyle hit a two-RBI single to right center putting the Tigers in the lead early.

The Tigers lead didn’t last long as a solo home run from GSU’s Morgan Robinson put the Eagles on the board. An RBI single from Alesha Mann tied the game at 2-2.

The lineup turned over with only one out and the bases loaded for GSU. The Eagles took the lead in the second after another RBI single from Lydia Witkowski.

Junior pitcher Allie Walljasper relieved freshman pitcher Maribeth Gorsuch in the second after three runs from the Eagles put the Tigers behind 3-2.  

The Eagles would score one more run before the end of an inning on a fly ball.

Walljasper completely shut down the Eagles offense for the remainder of the game. Walljasper retired 17 of the 18 batters she faced and had four strikeouts.

In the bottom of the second, the Tigers offense came back.

Landry stepped up to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third. She drilled a two-RBI double to tie the game at four.

GSU was unable to get any hits through the 5 2/3 innings that Walljasper pitched.

At the top of the lineup for the Tigers and tied at 4-4, a double from Griggs put Andrews on third base. With two runners on base, Landry found a hole in right center, with her two-RBI triple putting LSU in the lead in the fourth.

Senior catcher Sahvanna Jaquish came behind with a RBI single adding to the Tigers lead.

“We are in a decent spot,” Torina said. “There are still some things that we’ve got to work on and improve, but we are getting some young kids some good experience, which is really important. We definitely need to get a lot better, but we are working towards where we need to be.”
The Tigers will head to Cathedral City, California this Thursday where they will in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.