The No. 3 LSU softball team continued its winning ways this weekend with a three-game sweep of Southeastern Conference foe Ole Miss in Oxford.
The Tigers (42-7, 19-4 SEC) came out swinging in Sunday’s 5-1 victory over Ole Miss (13-31, 6-15), outhitting the Rebels 13-6.
Senior right-hander Kristin Schmidt pitched and won all three games of the series. Schmidt was forced into the pitching role for all three games because of an injury suffered by third baseman Julie Wiese. Wiese was injured in game one of the series and was replaced at third base by pitcher Emily Turner. Turner started game two and three at third and thus could not pitch.
Schmidt (26-4) pitched a complete game six-hitter on Sunday against the Rebels, allowing one run while striking out six batters in seven innings of work.
Schmidt would get all the run support she needed from the offense in the first inning as the Tigers scored three runs in the top of the frame.
Catcher Leigh Ann Danos, who was 3-for-3 with three RBIs, plated the Tigers first two runs with a two-run single to center field that scored Lauren Castle from third and Leslie Klein from second base.
Senior second baseman Sara Fitzgerald kept the rally going with a two-out single to left field that scored first baseman Stephanie Hill from third base and gave the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
The Rebels attempted to claw their way back into the game with one run in the bottom of the third. Ole Miss scored when Kristin Hobbs, who relieved Turner at third, overthrew Hill at first on a ground ball from Mandy Ott. The error allowed Britte Hardy to score from third and pulled Ole Miss within two runs of the Tigers at 3-1.
LSU would get two more runs in the seventh inning on RBI singles from Hill and Danos to close the game out and win going away, 5-1.
The series sweep extended LSU’s winning streak against Ole Miss to 19 games.
The Tigers swept both games Saturday, taking game one 2-1 and winning game two 5-0.
Schmidt earned both victories on Saturday. She pitched two complete games, allowing 12 hits and one run, while striking out 22 batters in 17 innings of work.
The Rebels played the Tigers tough in game one, forcing the contest into extra innings. The Tigers eventually prevailed with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th by Camille Harris that scored Hobbs from third.
Despite the win, the Tigers suffered a loss, as Wiese injured herself in the fourth inning as she fouled a pitch off her eye. The extent of the injury is unknown but Wiese did not reenter the series after the injury.
“[Saturday] was an extraordinary day considering what happened to Wiese,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We persevered and pushed through and managed to find a way to win both games.”
In game two, the Tigers’ bats came alive — producing three runs in the first two innings.
Klein supplied the Tigers with their final two runs of the game on a two-run home run, her team-high 12th of the season, to right field.
With the three-game sweep LSU pushed its winning streak to 15 games.
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