The LSU softball team sent 17 batters to the plate in the first inning as LSU blew past Kentucky 18-0 Sunday afternoon to take two of three games from the Wildcats in the weekend series.
With the win, LSU (22-15, 6-12 Southeastern Conference) has won four of its last six games, as well as winning two consecutive weekend series at Tiger Park.
LSU coach Yvette Girouard said the weekend series was the first time the Tigers were able to enjoy a game.
“We didn’t have to say [much to the team],” Girouard said. “We were feeling good today, and we were just having a good time. It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to play like that.”
In the first inning leadoff hitter Camille Harris advanced to first base after being hit by a pitch. Following consecutive singles by Lauren Castle and Vanessa Soto, junior Stephanie Hill’s walk scored the first run of the day. Third baseman Lauren Delahoussaye continued the surge with a single to left field, scoring Castle.
A fielding error by Kentucky second baseman Amber Janneck scored Soto from third base as the bases remained loaded.
Hill scored from freshman Andrea Smith’s single to center field, which gave LSU the 4-0 lead. Fellow freshman Quinan Duhon kept the bases loaded with a single to left field, which scored Delahoussaye from third base and put LSU up by five.
Kentucky did not get the first out of the inning until the ninth batter, sophomore Kristen Hobbs, struck out swinging.
In her second at-bat of the inning, Harris knocked a single to center field, scoring Smith from third base. After a ground out to second base, Castle’s at-bat scored Duhon.
With Harris at third, Soto connected on her second hit of the inning to right field to extend LSU’s lead to nine.
Two more singles by Hill and Delahoussaye scored Soto, as Smith came to the plate with the bases loaded again. Smith capitalized with a single to center field to put the score at 11-0 as LSU capped off an 11 run, 10 hit barrage in the bottom of the first inning.
LSU added five more in the second, thanks in part to a fielding error by Kentucky’s Brook Marnitz, which scored Harris from third. Delahoussaye then smacked a two-RBI double to left-center field to put LSU up 14-0. Two more singles in the inning by Klein and Duhon gave LSU the 16-0 lead.
LSU’s offense continued to click in the fourth following a leadoff hit by Delahoussaye. Freshman Dee Dee Henderson advanced Delahoussaye to second base after slapping an infield single. Smith brought the runners home with a sacrifice fly to center field as both Delahoussaye and Henderson tagged up to put the score at 18-0 in favor of LSU.
Delahoussaye finished as one of two LSU players with three hits, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
“Lauren Delahoussaye was a one-man event,” Girouard said. “We even knew in pregame that she was going to have a good game. She looked like the Lauren Delahoussaye of old.”
Castle joined Delahoussaye in going 3 for 4 with one RBI and two runs scored.
Sophomore Emily Turner got the win, pitching five innings and allowing three hits and no runs with eleven strikeouts.
“She was in total control,” Girouard said. “She looks strong again, and hopefully it will continue because it doesn’t get any easier for us.”
LSU’s 17 hits marked a season high, as well as the 18 run performance marking the highest number of runs LSU has ever scored in an SEC contest.
After winning the first game of the series on Saturday 6-1, Kentucky bounced back to take the second game 5-1. Freshman Megan Jolly took the loss as LSU was only able to put up five hits against Kentucky’s Amy Kendall. Harris led LSU, going 2 for 3 with LSU’s only RBI.