The LSU Tigers host the University of Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns Saturday evening in a competitive match during the second Purple and Gold Challenge in Tiger Park.
The game against the Cajuns was LSU’s second matchup in this tournament, following their win against Michigan State, beating them 9-0. Michigan has a current record of 7-5-1, with the Tigers being one of these seven.
Starting the game off strong, LSU scored first in the second inning, after a single hit by Kylee Edwards. ULL followed closely behind, scoring in the third inning, Mia Liscano.
The following innings, four through nine, were on the slower side. There were not any runs for either team, leaving spectators on the edge of their seats and setting the tournament schedule back.
Defensively, both teams showed tremendous effort and stamina when the time came, forcing the game to stay close.
In Saturday’s game, Sage Hoover pitched the entire 10 innings against the Tigers. She gave up 10 hits but the Cajuns only allowed two runs to score the entire game, also having six strikeouts. For LSU, Cece Cellura pitched 8 innings, giving up five hits and one run.
In the eighth inning, LSU had a pitcher change, subbing in Haley Heavener, who gave up zero hits or runs. Both pitchers for LSU had three swinging strikeouts.
After the Cajuns failed to score in the top of the 10th after three straight strikeouts, Alix Franklin struck out swinging, and right after, Ally Hutchins hit a grounder to third base, giving the Tigers their second out of the inning, which put a lot of pressure on the next few hitters to come.
Char Lorenz happened to get walked, advancing her to first base. To finish the game, Kylee Edwards tripled to deep right center, bringing in Char Lorenz to win the game 2-1.
Kylee Edwards was a standout player for LSU in this game, as she had a remarkable performance, tallying three total hits out of her four at-bats. Her biggest hit came in the extra innings as she had a walk-off triple, bringing her team to win the game. Edwards brought in both runs of the day.
This was a competitive battle for both teams, as the game went to the bottom of the 10th inning and the score was only 2-1. The Tigers ended the game with a bang.
