After a disappointing 3-0 loss to No. 9 Arizona to start to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Friday, the No. 4 LSU softball team responded with four-straight wins to close out the tournament.
The Tigers’ (8-2) offense led the way as the squad plated 37 runs in the four-game stretch after being stifled by the Wildcats (8-3).
“They can manufacture runs,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “They have the capability of winning in a lot of different ways … We saw that from them this weekend.”
LSU’s personnel allows Torina to match up lineups with the different looks the Tigers’ opponents give them, the fifth-year coach said. She was complimentary of the hot start the freshmen had this weekend.
Arguably, the tournament’s most outstanding rookie was outfielder Amber Serrett. Torina has been consistently complimentary of Serrett calling her “special.” The Spring, Texas native went 5-for-7 at the plate with three RBIs in her three starts.
The Tigers got the offense going against Bethune-Cookman, thrashing the Gauchos, 16-2. Saturday’s slate was more competitive, but LSU still swept University of California-Santa Barbara, 5-2, and No. 15 Central Florida, 6-5.
LSU capped off the weekend with a dominant 10-5 win against No. 8 UCLA on Sunday.
The Tigers secured an early lead with nine of its 10 runs coming in the second, third and fourth innings. After the fourth, the squad had built a 9-2 lead the Bruins (7-3) wouldn’t be able to rally from.
UCLA was able to earn back two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth back, but the deficit proved too much for the team from Los Angeles.
Torina’s squad had three players notch multiple hits and RBIs, while five more recorded a hit. Senior infielder Sandra Simmons, junior infielder Constance Quinn and Serrett each tallied two hits and two RBIs to lead the LSU offense.
Even though the offense averaged 9.25 runs through the four wins, defensive struggles allowed the Tigers’ opposition to score, something the team will look at in practice, according to Torina.
“We made some mistakes we need to clean up there on the defensive side,” Torina said. “[The Big League Dream Complex] is definitely a tough place to play defense, but it’s something that we’ve got to keep working on.”
Sophomore pitcher Carley Hoover did enough to earn her fourth win of 2016, before being replaced by sophomore Allie Walljasper in the sixth inning.
Hoover allowed a season-high 12 hits and five earned runs. She struck out seven of the 29 batters she faced.
Walljasper came in after Hoover allowed UCLA to cut the Tiger lead to just four. The sophomore allowed just one hit in relief while striking out two batters.
“Walljasper was fantastic,” Torina said. “In really big spots, she was able to shut the door [on opponents]. I thought she was just phenomenal.”
After notching a 4-1 mark on the weekend, Torina and her squad will return to the friendly confines of Tiger Park to face South Alabama at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
You can reach Marc Stevens on Twitter @Marc_TDR