Saturday, February 22
Baton Rouge, La. / Tiger Park
4 p.m.
Southern Miss
4-10
5
at
12
LSU
13-0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Southern Miss
0
3
0
2
0
0
0
5
3
1
LSU
0
3
0
3
3
3
X
12
14
1
Softball Drops Two Matches on Second Day at LSU Invitational
2/22/2025 7:43:00 PM | Softball
BATON ROUGE, LA.-Southern Miss Softball (4-10, 0-0 Sun Belt) dropped two matches Saturday at the LSU Invitational, falling to Penn State and to No. 5 LSU.
Game One: Penn State 4-Southern Miss 1
While the Golden Eagles began the game with an advantage, Penn State rebounded with a combined effort from three pitchers, as Mady Volpe earned the win and Abigail Britton earned a save with five strikeouts in a 4-1 decision.
Southern Miss started the game with a leadoff hit from Hannah Christian, continuing her early success at the LSU Invitational. After Christian advanced into scoring position from stealing second, Ryanna Valdivia hit an RBI single for the Golden Eagles' lone point of the game.
Defensively, Southern Miss starting pitcher Kayla Giardina retired the side in order for the first two innings, registering three early strikeouts.
As Volpe entered the circle for Penn State, the Nittany Lions began to gain momentum, leading to their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. After a leadoff double in the fourth from Brooke Klosowicz, Maddie Gordon hit a two-run home run shot to put Penn State ahead 3-1.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with two outs as Britton entered the match in the fifth, but the freshman stranded all three runners with a strikeout to end the frame.
Natalie Herrington, following her Friday night start at LSU, came into the circle in the bottom of the fifth for the Golden Eagles, retiring her first four batters before Penn State knocked off consecutive hits and added a final run in the sixth on a Southern Miss throwing error.
The Golden Eagles exited the bottom of the sixth by turning a double play from Claire Ginder at shortstop to second baseman Maddie Weeks to Ryanna Valdivia at first base.
Penn State closed out the game in the seventh, retiring the side in order as Britton tallied two more strikeouts.
Game Two: No. 5 LSU 12-Southern Miss 5
Southern Miss fought in an early contested match against No. 5 LSU, but the Tigers strung together three three-run innings at the end of the game to pull away with a 12-5 victory.
Redshirt freshman catcher Kayce Bennett gave Southern Miss an early 3-0 lead in the second inning with her first career home run, a three-run shot sent over right field.
The Tigers evened the score with three runs in the bottom half with an RBI single from Avery Hodge and a two-run homer by Danieca Coffey, setting the stage for a back-and-forth battle in the following innings.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth after back-to-back walks by Christian and Faith Kivett, followed by two hit batters that brought in runs.
Giardina entered in the fourth with two runners on, taking over for BrookLynn White, who made a brief appearance after relieving Lee. The Tigers capitalized with two runs on an RBI double from Maci Bergeron and an RBI single from McKenzie before pulling ahead on a groundout.
Southern Miss threatened to take the lead back in the fifth, advancing two runners in scoring position, but Tatum Clopton retired the side with two strikeouts. Clopton, who relieved Jayden Heavener, earned her third win of the season as she threw three shutout innings to close out the game for the Tigers.
Meanwhile, LSU recorded eight hits and six runs over the final innings to secure a victory and preserve their undefeated record.
For the latest information on Southern Miss Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB) and Instagram (@southernmisssb).
Game One: Penn State 4-Southern Miss 1
While the Golden Eagles began the game with an advantage, Penn State rebounded with a combined effort from three pitchers, as Mady Volpe earned the win and Abigail Britton earned a save with five strikeouts in a 4-1 decision.
Southern Miss started the game with a leadoff hit from Hannah Christian, continuing her early success at the LSU Invitational. After Christian advanced into scoring position from stealing second, Ryanna Valdivia hit an RBI single for the Golden Eagles' lone point of the game.
Defensively, Southern Miss starting pitcher Kayla Giardina retired the side in order for the first two innings, registering three early strikeouts.
As Volpe entered the circle for Penn State, the Nittany Lions began to gain momentum, leading to their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the third. After a leadoff double in the fourth from Brooke Klosowicz, Maddie Gordon hit a two-run home run shot to put Penn State ahead 3-1.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with two outs as Britton entered the match in the fifth, but the freshman stranded all three runners with a strikeout to end the frame.
Natalie Herrington, following her Friday night start at LSU, came into the circle in the bottom of the fifth for the Golden Eagles, retiring her first four batters before Penn State knocked off consecutive hits and added a final run in the sixth on a Southern Miss throwing error.
The Golden Eagles exited the bottom of the sixth by turning a double play from Claire Ginder at shortstop to second baseman Maddie Weeks to Ryanna Valdivia at first base.
Penn State closed out the game in the seventh, retiring the side in order as Britton tallied two more strikeouts.
Game Two: No. 5 LSU 12-Southern Miss 5
Southern Miss fought in an early contested match against No. 5 LSU, but the Tigers strung together three three-run innings at the end of the game to pull away with a 12-5 victory.
Redshirt freshman catcher Kayce Bennett gave Southern Miss an early 3-0 lead in the second inning with her first career home run, a three-run shot sent over right field.
The Tigers evened the score with three runs in the bottom half with an RBI single from Avery Hodge and a two-run homer by Danieca Coffey, setting the stage for a back-and-forth battle in the following innings.
The Golden Eagles loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth after back-to-back walks by Christian and Faith Kivett, followed by two hit batters that brought in runs.
Giardina entered in the fourth with two runners on, taking over for BrookLynn White, who made a brief appearance after relieving Lee. The Tigers capitalized with two runs on an RBI double from Maci Bergeron and an RBI single from McKenzie before pulling ahead on a groundout.
Southern Miss threatened to take the lead back in the fifth, advancing two runners in scoring position, but Tatum Clopton retired the side with two strikeouts. Clopton, who relieved Jayden Heavener, earned her third win of the season as she threw three shutout innings to close out the game for the Tigers.
Meanwhile, LSU recorded eight hits and six runs over the final innings to secure a victory and preserve their undefeated record.
For the latest information on Southern Miss Softball, follow the program on Facebook (facebook.com/SouthernMissSB), Twitter (@SouthernMissSB) and Instagram (@southernmisssb).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Tatum Clopton (3-0)
L: Giardina, Kayla (1-2)
Batting:
HR: Bennett, Kayce 1
RBI: Weeks, Maddie 1 ; Valdivia, Ryanna 1 ; Bennett, Kayce 3
SH: Fox, Mikaila 1 ; Ginder, Claire 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Christian, Hannah 1 ; Valdivia, Ryanna 1 ; Taylor, Natalie 1 ; Bennett, Kayce 1 ; Moak, Madison 1
HBP: Christian, Hannah 1 ; Weeks, Maddie 1 ; Valdivia, Ryanna 1 ; Moak, Madison 1
Batting:
2B: Maci Bergeron 1 ; McKenzie Redoutey 1
3B: Danieca Coffey 1
HR: Danieca Coffey 1
RBI: Danieca Coffey 3 ; Jalia Lassiter 2 ; Maci Bergeron 1 ; Tori Edwards 1 ; McKenzie Redoutey 3 ; Maddox McKee 1 ; Avery Hodge 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Danieca Coffey 2 ; Jalia Lassiter 3 ; Maci Bergeron 1 ; Sa'Mya Jones 1 ; Jadyn Laneaux 1 ; Sierra Daniel 1 ; Avery Hodge 3
SB: Maddox McKee 1 ; Jadyn Laneaux 1 ; Avery Hodge 1
HBP: Jadyn Laneaux 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
3
AB
2
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
INF/UT
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
RHP
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