Several players came up big in No. 4 LSU’s sweep of No. 23 Kentucky to make it happen.
The Tigers outscored the Wildcats 18-7 through all three games. The offense was hot on Friday and made up for defensive miscues on Saturday. On Sunday, the hot wheels came out to play early and often.
Ace Sydney Berzon was a standout for LSU over the weekend. She saw time in all three games, pitching 15.1 innings. She did her job effectively, limiting the Wildcats to three runs in her time in the circle.
Junior catcher Maci Bergeron continued her offensive hot streak with a three-run blast to left center field on Saturday.
She owned every Tiger RBI except two on Sunday with a ground ball in the first, a two-run bomb in the third and a three-run shot in the sixth.
Freshman pitcher Jayden Heavener and junior shortstop Avery Hodge flashed the leather throughout the weekend.
Heavener had to field her position as a lefty pitcher as Kentucky made several sac bunts down the first baseline.
Hodge’s fantastic glove work made challenging plays look easy, throwing bullets to compensate for lost time. On Sunday, she threw the tying run at the plate with a bullet throw on a sharply hit ground ball.
Sophomore Jadyn Laneaux and redshirt freshman Tori Edwards got it done on both sides of the ball for the Tigers.
Edwards made a diving catch at first base for the third out on Friday, and on Saturday, she hit the go-ahead, game-winning RBIs in the form of a home run. She hit a line drive shot for another home run in the sixth inning on Sunday.
Friday, Laneaux made a shoelace catch on a sinking liner on her backhand side in left field, and on Sunday, she ran down a line drive to end the Wildcat threat in the third inning. She had a 2-3 day at the plate on Saturday, being a consistent base runner for the Tigers.
Friday’s game was about the offense, and Saturday was about the offense bailing out the defense. LSU’s speed and defense marked Sunday’s game.
Sunday was a highly competitive matchup between both teams. The Tigers scored first but batted through the lineup the first time without a hit recorded.
The Wildcats showed their scrappiness in the top of the third, but the LSU offense slowed their scoring efforts. The rest of the game was all Tigers with insurance runs.
Edwards and Bergeron went back to back with their home runs in the sixth inning on Sunday.
The Bayou Bengals want it bad this season. They’re young and have everything to prove with nothing to lose.
There were a lot of blank spaces that needed to be filled for LSU going into 2025. Everyone who has filled the big shoes of the 2024 team has owned the big moments they’ve been put in during this young SEC season.
Sometimes, a big hit for the opposing team is inevitable, but this team showed why they’re formidable: the Tigers fight like no other.
It’s still early, but this team has shown why they’re a force to be reckoned with.
LSU hopes to remain undefeated in SEC play on Friday evening when they travel to Athens to face No. 13 Georgia.
