Sophomore Emily Turner earned three wins over the weekend as LSU completed a three-game sweep over Ole Miss Sunday with a 4-2 victory.
With the win, LSU (26-15, 9-12 Southeastern Conference) has now won five straight and eight of their last 10.
“This is probably the best [Turner has] pitched since being in a Tiger uniform,” LSU coach Yvette Girouard said. “This is the talent that we’ve recruited. It’s been a long process of teaching her how to be a pitcher and not a thrower.”
For the weekend, Turner pitched 21 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits with 24 strikeouts to bring her record to 14-9.
LSU’s offense jumped out in the bottom of the second inning after a leadoff hit by junior Stephanie Hill. Third baseman Lauren Delahoussaye advanced Hill to second after an infield single, putting runners at first and second.
With freshman Dee Dee Henderson pinch-running for Hill at second, sophomore Leslie Klein loaded the bases with LSU’s third straight single. Freshman Quinlan Duhon then sent a lazy ground ball to Lauren Rowe at second base. Rowe committed an error, throwing the ball over the catcher’s head as both Henderson and Delahoussaye scored to give LSU the 2-0 lead.
With runners at second and third, freshman Andrea Smith brought another run in after a single to center field, scoring Klein. Ole Miss committed its second error of the inning two batters later when catcher DeDe Justice threw the ball to center field after a failed pick-off attempt, scoring Duhon from third and giving LSU a 4-0 lead.
Ole Miss got one run back in the top of the third thanks to a fielding error by LSU. With two outs and Ole Miss’ Rebecca McIntire at third, Mary Jane Callahan sent a sharp ground ball to Vanessa Soto at second. Soto fumbled the ground ball, allowing McIntire to score and bringing Ole Miss within three at 4-1.
An RBI ground-out by Callahan in the top of the fifth gave Ole Miss its last run, cutting the score in half at 4-2.
Following the third game, Turner said she was still going strong after three-straight games.
“I think I could pitch another one,” Turner said. “The trainers do a good job of making us wear our jackets and rubbing us down when need be.”
In the first game of the series, LSU jumped on the board in the second inning thanks to a throwing error by the pitcher. Klein began the inning with a single down the left-field line. Duhon then advanced Klein to second base after a ground out to second.
Smith then put down a sacrifice bunt to advance Klein to third. A throwing error by Callahan scored Klein from third base as LSU took the 1-0 lead.
LSU added another run in the third after consecutive singles by Hill and Delahoussaye. With runners on first and second, Klein smacked a single to left field, scoring Hill and giving LSU the 2-0 lead.
Turner went the distance in the win, pitching seven innings and giving up no runs on three hits with five strikeouts.
In the second game of the doubleheader on Saturday, LSU broke the 0-0 tie in the fourth inning.
With one out, Soto walked, followed by a single by Hill as Soto advanced to third. With freshman Heidi Robin pinch-running for Soto at third, Delahoussaye broke the tie with a single to center field, scoring Robin as Hill advanced to second. Klein then brought the runners home with a double to left-center field, scoring Hill and Delahoussaye as LSU took a 3-0 lead.
Ole Miss got one run back in the top of the fourth as Brooke Turner began the inning with a single. Rebecca McIntire advanced Turner to second after a ground out to the pitcher. Lauren Rowe then put the Lady Rebels on the board with a single to right field, scoring McIntire and trimming the LSU lead to 3-1.
Turner proved too much for the Lady Rebels as Ole Miss failed to score again in the contest. Turner finished with the win, pitching seven innings and giving up one run on four hits with nine strikeouts.
Ole Miss’ Dana Brill took the loss, giving up three runs on five hits in six innings of work.
“We went to bed happy last night and we’ll go to bed happy tonight,” Girouard said. “This is three games that we absolutely needed as the road doesn’t get any easier from here.”