Southern Miss
LSU
Softball Team Falls To No. 17 LSU, 4-2
4/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 1, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - No. 17 LSU used a big sixth inning, scoring three runs to come from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Southern Miss, 4-2, in a midweek matchup in Hattiesburg.
Southern Miss dropped to 18-17-1 overall, while LSU improved to 22-7.
"We gave it a shot," Coach Howard Dobson said. "I thought we had better enthusiasm tonight. We were nipping at the heels and that one walk led to that big inning. With our midweek games right now, our real focus is on our conference games on the weekend. That's our priority right now."
Junior Megan Hill tallied her eighth home run of the season, sending a 0-2 pitch over the left centerfield fence in the bottom of the fifth to give the Golden Eagles a brief 2-1 lead.
"We kept fighting and our defense is getting better except for that one game last Sunday," Dobson said. "Our defense is starting to play better, our pitching is doing well and if we could ever get our hitters to go on track, we could be lethal."
Freshman Courtney Ramos (9-8) took the loss for the Golden Eagles, allowing only four hits through five innings with four strikeouts. LSU's Brittany Mack (9-1) earned her ninth win of the season while giving up only four hits for the game.
LSU got on the board in the second inning when Rachel Mitchell got a free pass on a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Juliana Santos singled through the right side, sending Mitchell to third. Santos stole second, but Ramos struck out the next two batters, before issuing two straight walks to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Southern Miss went ahead in the bottom of the fifth after Mack retired the first Golden Eagle batter, Stephanie Shiflet got on with walk on four straight balls. Mack got two quick strikes on Hill before she sent the third pitch deep to left center. The Golden Eagles threaten to add to the lead when Kristin Pilgrim walked followed by an Alexis Hurley single to center. With runners at first and second, Mack got Ashley Razey to ground out to third.
LSU answered in top half of the sixth as Santos singled to short to start the inning. Ashley Applegate sacrificed Santos to second. Russell then walked. Both runners moved up a base on a pass ball. With two out, the Tigers put together three consecutive hits, scoring three runs.
Mack allowed only two runners in the last two innings to seal the win.
Southern Miss hits the road for a Conference USA series with UCF, April 4-5, with a double-header scheduled for Saturday and a single game on Sunday. First pitch on Saturday is 12 p.m., central.
