No. 17 LSU defeated South Alabama 10-2 in a run-rule softball game at Tiger Park on Tuesday night. The Tigers used a seven-run third inning to pull away, capitalizing on four hits and two errors by the Jaguars.
South Alabama head coach Becky Clark commented on the team’s performance: “Tonight was disappointing because we never gave ourselves a chance. I thought we let it get too big for us and didn’t take care of the fundamentals of the game. We had too many mistakes against a quality team. We have work to do and a lot to clean up.”
LSU took an early lead in the first inning when Alix Franklin singled, scoring Jalia Lassiter. An error by South Alabama extended the inning, allowing another run to score after Ally Hutchins drew a walk with the bases loaded.
South Alabama responded in the second inning as Sydney Stewart hit a single that brought home Olivia Branstetter, narrowing LSU’s lead to 2-1. However, LSU added another run in their half of the second when Tori Edwards singled with two outs.
The decisive moment came in the third inning when LSU scored seven runs. Lassiter’s chopper resulted in two runs after an error, followed by additional runs from Avery Hodge and Lassiter due to another misplay. Franklin later tripled with the bases loaded, bringing three more runners home.
South Alabama managed one more run in the fifth on Presley Lively’s RBI single but could not close the gap further.
Lively and Stewart each recorded a hit and an RBI for South Alabama, while Stewart also scored once. For LSU, Lassiter reached base all three times she batted and scored three runs; Franklin went 2-for-3 with four RBIs.
With this result, LSU has now won 16 meetings against South Alabama in Baton Rouge. Several streaks continued for South Alabama players: Stagner has hits in eight of her last nine games; Branstetter has reached base safely four games straight; Wine has been on base eight times this spring; Gracie Dees extended her hitting streak to nine games; Lively has hits in nine out of eleven games this season and reached base every game so far.
South Alabama will next play McNeese State at Jaguar Field on Wednesday night at 5 p.m.
