The No. 14 LSU softball team wanted more consistent offensive play entering a three-game set against South Carolina this weekend.
They got just that.
The Tigers (36-13, 10-11 Southeastern Conference) defeated the Gamecocks (32-16, 5-13 SEC), 2-0, Sunday to complete the series sweep. It was the first against a conference opponent since April 4, 2015.
“I felt they were in it the whole way,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “I don’t think anyone is going to roll over and die for you on a Sunday, just because you won the first two games. That’s how the SEC is. It wasn’t unlike any other game we’ve seen all year long.”
In Game 1, LSU recorded nine hits and seven runs to take the opening contest on Friday. The squad followed up with an eight-hit showing, scoring eight runs, on its way to securing a mercy-rule victory. The SEC series win was the Tigers’ third in their last four attempts.
Torina’s club used contact, power and bunts to move runners and score.
“Winning in all different ways, that allows a championship to be a championship,” said LSU senior left fielder Sandra Simmons. “We don’t rely on just the long ball, or we don’t rely on a base hit or walk. We know everything will connect and get us a win.”
LSU’s offense slowed a bit in the series finale, as the team notched just four hits throughout the contest, but the most significant hit came in the fourth.
On a 1-2 count, LSU senior third baseman Bianka Bell belted a pitch over the left-field wall, giving the Tigers breathing room with a 2-0 lead.
But it wasn’t just offensive production that elevated the Tigers. Their dominant defense and pitching balanced out the run support.
For the second straight series, Torina started sophomores Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, while saving freshman Sydney Smith for Sunday’s finale.
Hoover and Walljasper threw 12 combined innings and allowed just four hits, two unearned runs and struck out seven in the opening two games. In Game 3, Smith allowed just three hits and no runs in seven shutout innings of work.
The rookie stifled the South Carolina lineup, allowing just four base runners throughout the contest and held the Gamecock batters to a .120 batting average. She came in with the nation’s third-best ERA, 0.74, and lowered it to 0.66.
“She challenged herself,” Simmons said. “She challenged the hitters. She kept them off balance. You could tell with the two runs … She stepped up when she needed to step up.”
On Sunday, the LSU offense slowed down a bit, but its defense picked up the slack.
In the top of the third, South Carolina senior center fielder Ansley Ard rocketed a ball to deep left field. It was all but gone until Simmons sacrificed her body, crashing into the wall to rob the would-be tying home run.
Junior first baseman Sahvanna Jaquish had multiple diving stops throughout the contest, and Smith took away well-hit balls with quick reflexes from the circle.
“It helped me move along on the mound,” Smith said. “Knowing wherever I put the ball, they are going to field it … I knew [Simmons] had it.”
The Tigers will put their six-game win streak on the line with a quick turnaround against McNeese State Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park.