Sophomore Kristen Hobbs hit her first home run of the year against Arkansas last night as LSU came back from a one-run deficit in the bottom of the sixth inning to earn their second straight victory, 6-4.
With the win, LSU (20-14, 4-11 Southeastern Conference) ended up taking two of three games from the Lady Backs.
“It certainly hasn’t happened to us in a while,” LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard said. “I’m just so happy for Kristen. She’s probably one of the best people you’ll ever meet — and she’s willing to do anything for her teammates at any time.”
With the win, Arkansas (14-30, 1-16 SEC) dropped its second straight game after taking the first game of the series Wednesday.
LSU’s offense got started in the bottom of the first inning after leadoff hitter Camille Harris advanced with a walk.
Following another walk to junior Stephanie Hill two batters later, Leslie Klein advanced the runners with a ground ball to the shortstop. Freshman Vanessa Soto then capitalized with a single to center field, scoring both Harris and Hill and giving LSU the early 2-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Tiffany Garcia kept the Lady Backs’ offense in check until the third inning, when Arkansas’ leading hitter Rachel LeMaster led off the inning with a double down the right field line.
After a ground ball by Mindy O’Malley caught LeMaster at third base, Kallie Foglesong got on after an error by freshman Andrea Smith at shortstop. The error then opened the door for Shana Easley, who blasted a double to right-center field, scoring O’Malley and Foglesong to tie the game at two.
Arkansas then broke the lead in the top of the fourth after a triple by O’Malley to right field scored Heather Rankin and LeMaster. Garcia was able to get out of the inning after a pop-out by Foglesong, stranding O’Malley at third base.
LSU got one run back in the bottom of the inning thanks to an error by shortstop Dayna Huckabee at shortstop.
Following a two-out double by Lauren Delahoussaye, freshman Andrea Smith advanced the runner to third after a throwing error by Huckabee put runners on the corners.
Freshman Erika Sluss, who pinch-hit for Hobbs, lined a single to right field to score pinch-runner Lauren Uhle and put the score at 4-3.
LSU’s rally then continued in the sixth inning as Soto started it off with a leadoff walk. Following a groundout by freshman Quinlan Duhon and a pop-out by Delahoussaye, Smith slapped her first hit of the game to put runners on first and second base.
That set the stage for Hobbs to blast her second collegiate home run to left field, giving LSU the 6-4 lead heading into the seventh.
“Offensively, she struggles at times,” Girouard said. “But sometimes, the good guy wins. And the good guy won today.”
Emily Turner got the win, pitching three innings and giving up no runs or hits with five strikeouts.
Arkansas pitcher Sarah Topham took the loss, giving up three runs and three hits in two innings of work.
LSU will now host Kentucky in Tiger Park this weekend, beginning with a double-header on Saturday.
Harris, who went 0 for 1 with one run scored, said LSU will need to maintain its focus for the weekend set.
“We just need to take the same attitude as we did in this series,” Harris said. “Just staying fired up, making prime-time at bats and scoring runs.”