After playing five-straight top-16 opponents in its first five Southeastern Conference series, the No. 11 LSU softball team appeared to have a break against an unranked Mississippi State team, which had won just two league games.
But the Bulldogs (23-18, 3-10 SEC) proved to be no pushover.
Despite LSU grabbing two runs in the first inning, Mississippi State used a four-run second inning to take a 5-2 lead it wouldn’t relinquish, ultimately downing LSU, 7-2.
Sophomore pitcher Carley Hoover is typically the Tigers ace but didn’t show it on Friday. She allowed seven runs on seven hits and recorded just one strikeout in the contest. She was pulled from the contest after three innings.
Hoover’s lackluster performance handed her a sixth loss this season, one shy of her season total last season.
Freshman Sydney Smith came in and retired the next three Bulldog batters to limit the damage. The rookie held Mississippi State scoreless in the final four innings, but the Tigers’ offense remained quiet, due in part Bulldog starting pitcher junior Alexis Silkwood.
Silkwood virtually controlled the LSU lineup from the game’s first pitch, consistently getting ahead in the count. She allowed four hits throughout the contest, and the Tigers didn’t have a single inning with multiple hits.
The junior hurler lone earned run came in the first, and she responded, throwing six shutout innings and striking out six.
The loss is the fifth straight SEC loss for LSU and drops them to 10th in the league standings. Mississippi State remains at 12th, ahead of last-place Arkansas, and ends a four-game conference skid.
The Tigers will look to even the series when the teams square off in Game 2 at 7 p.m. Saturday.