The No. 5 LSU softball team defied the odds against Texas Tech on Saturday night.
Down 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs already gone, the Tigers trailed the entire contest and coach Beth Torina had been ejected. Common sense says there is no way LSU can pull out the win.
Sometimes common sense is wrong.
The Tigers (12-2) defeated the Red Raiders (5-9), 3-2, but only after late inning fireworks from junior catcher Sahvanna Jaquish and junior right fielder Bailey Landry.
With Torina watching from her office, Jaquish crushed a two-run home run over the left field wall to give an LSU team with seemingly no hope life once more and send the game into extra innings.
“I think I broke a chair on Sahvanna’s home run, because I was jumping up and down.” Torina said. “It definitely takes 21 outs to beat us,and I think we proved that tonight. I’m proud of their effort, that they rallied there at the end and that never lost hope.”
Landry would finish what Jaquish started.
The right fielder stepped up to the plate 0-for-3 on the day in eighth. On the second pitch of the at-bat, the Prairieville, Louisiana native smashed her first home run of 2016 into the Tiger Park Terrace for a solo walk-off home run.
“She’s crazy,” Jaquish said. “Our fans asked for crazy, we gave them insanity. A slapper hitting a walk-off home run … She’s just so strong and I think she deserved every moment of that hit.”
But the pair of homers were only the end to the festivities, after things got raucous in the sixth. Sophomore pitcher Allie Walljasper threw a pitch, which was officially ruled as wild. Texas Tech took advantage of the call and scored a second run.
Torina disagreed.
The fifth year coach got into a heated argument with home plate umpire Herbert Burt Jr. and first base umpire Darryl Brasuell and would not back down, ultimately leading to her being tossed.
“It’s part of the game,” Torina said. “I thought it was a foul ball. The umpire disagreed with me. It’s not something I’m proud of.”
However, she wasn’t the only one who thought it was foul. Jaquish and Walljasper both agreed.
“I saw foul ball,” Walljasper said. “Sahvanna is a great catcher she would have caught the ball. It was a right down the middle strike.”
Despite the one earned run, Walljasper tallied her third win of the season.
She tossed a complete game throwing 105 pitches, striking out eight and allowing just five hits. Her season earned run average increased to 0.42, but her ERA still leads the team.
“Allie did just a great job,” Jaquish said. “She had a presence [in the circle]. It was amazing, everyone fed off of her energy.”
The Tigers were able to pull off the comeback win despite stranding nine runners on base and continuing to make fielding mistakes.
An error in the first inning allowed the first Red Raider run, which almost proved too much for LSU to overcome.
Torina’s squad is back in action for another matchup with Texas Tech at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. After practically stealing the win from the Red Raiders, Torina said they’ll be ready for the rematch.
“It’s going to leave a bad taste in Texas Tech’s mouth,” she said. “We’re going to have to show up with a better effort and a better performance [tomorrow].”
You can Marc Stevens on Twitter @Marc_TDR