LSU junior pitcher Brittany Mack might have had seven more innings in her — even after throwing 14 innings in a 26-hour period this weekend.
Mack’s back-to-back complete games steered LSU (17-12, 2-6) to a 4-1 win Sunday and a 2-1 victory Saturday at Tiger Park against Kentucky, giving the Tigers their first Southeastern Conference wins of the season.
The junior pitcher tossed 10 strikeouts and allowed only one earned run in the two-day period.
“When she’s on, she has nasty stuff — the nastiest on the staff,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard.
Mack, who has battled injury problems during her LSU career, said this weekend’s work was much easier on her arm than a particular historic game in high school.
Mack struck out 39 batters in 21 straight innings of work for Westwood High School in Round Rock, Texas, in 2008, earning a spot in the Faces of the Crowd section of Sports Illustrated.
“[The games] are not even close,” Mack said. “I didn’t have any pain after [the 21-inning game], but it’s definitely a lot of soreness and just being tired after throwing that much.”
The Round Rock native was given the circle Sunday instead of usual starter freshman pitcher Meghan Patterson.
“I was pleased to get this game again,” Mack said. “As a pitcher or any ball player, you always want the ball. It’s great that I got to come out and try and shut them down again.”
Mack (7-3) wasn’t the only reason the Tigers won their first Southeastern Conference series.
LSU junior left fielder Ashley Langoni belted a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the third inning Sunday, and freshman shortstop Tammy Wray then hit an RBI double to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
“[Kentucky junior pitcher Rachel Riley] was a slower pitcher than what we’ve been seeing, so my first at-bat I was kind of rolling over, so I scooted up in the box the next at-bat and just went with the pitch,” Langoni said of her home run.
LSU’s fourth run came when Kentucky junior pitcher Chanda Bell walked Langoni with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning.
“[This series] puts us back into the conference with all the other teams,” Langoni said.
The Tigers’ win Saturday snapped a seven-game losing streak and a 0-6 start in the SEC.
“This has not been pretty,” Girouard said. “Nobody was satisfied with what was going on. … Everybody was sick to their stomach about what was happening.”
Wray was hit by a pitch and scored the winning run Saturday with the bases loaded against Bell.
“From the past weekends you could just see we were just dull and our concentration wasn’t on there, but this weekend we came out and we put all of it together,” Langoni said.
The Wildcats beat LSU, 6-1, on Friday night to open the series.
Kentucky junior third baseman Brittany Cervantes’ three RBIs led the way for the Wildcats on Friday.
LSU sophomore pitcher Rachele Fico (5-8) picked up the loss, allowing 13 hits and six earned runs.
The Tigers will take their newfound momentum to Thibodaux on Wednesday to face Nicholls State at 6 p.m. LSU will return home April 6 when the Colonels travel to Tiger Park.
Follow Michael Lambert on Twitter @TDR_Lambert
 
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