Alabama
LSU
No. 2 Softball Suffers Two Losses at No. 20 LSU
3/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 18, 2009
BATON ROUGE, La. - The No. 2 ranked Alabama softball team dropped two Southeastern Conference Western Division contests to LSU to open its road portion of the conference schedule. The Crimson Tide dropped the opener by the score of 3-2 and then fell in the nightcap 6-5. After the day Alabama moves to 23-4 overall and 3-2 in SEC play.
Senior Brittany Rogers batted 5-for-7 in the twin-bill and was a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts. Junior Charlotte Morgan extended her hitting streak to 13 games and Whitney Larsen and Jazlyn Lunceford both went deep on the day. The sweep by a conference opponent was the first since No. 2 Tennessee beat Alabama in Knoxville on March 6, 2007.
Game 1
The No. 2 ranked Alabama softball team was able to tie the game up in the top of the seventh but the No. 20 ranked LSU Tigers scored an unearned run in the bottom half to earn a 3-2 victory Wednesday night at Tiger Park. The loss is the first on the season for the Crimson Tide during Southeastern Conference play as they move to 23-3 overall and 3-1 in league play.
With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh LSU (16-6, 3-2 SEC) was able to score the winning run when pinch-runner Katie Guillory scored from third on an error by Kellie Eubanks. Jazz Jackson delivered the decisive blow with runners at the corners and two outs.
Alabama made it a game when Brittany Rogers scored in the top of the seventh on a Charlotte Morgan single down the left field line. Rogers collected her third hit of the ball game on a sharply hit groundball up the middle. The fleet-footed outfielder then promptly stole second and scored on the Morgan line drive down the line.
Rogers batted 3-for-3 and added three stolen bases while Morgan extended her hitting streak to a career best 12 games with a 1-for-4 effort at the plate. Senior Kelley Montalvo batted 2-for-3 with a RBI.
Montalvo got the Tide on the board to lead off the game in the first. Rogers started the game off with an infield single and stole her first of three bags to start the game. Montalvo then drilled the left field wall for a RBI double.
LSU then answered with one in the third and then delivered in the fifth on a home run by Ashley Langoni. Kirsten Shortridge led LSU at the plate with three hits. Juliana Santos collected a RBI on a 1-for-4 day.
Cody Trahan earned the win (6-1) after fanning eight and allowing two runs on six hits in seven complete. Morgan was tagged with loss (7-3) after allowing the unearned run in an inning of relief. Kelsi Dunne allowed eight hits and two runs, all earned with five strikeouts. The two earned are her first allowed since Feb. 21.
Game 2
The No. 2 ranked Alabama softball team fell in the nightcap to No. 20 ranked LSU by the score of 6-5 late Wednesday night at the new Tiger Park. After the Crimson Tide rallied to a 5-1 lead the Tigers posted a late game rally of their own to pull out the SEC Western Division sweep. After the day Alabama moves to 23-4 overall and 3-2 in league play while LSU improves to 17-6 on the season and 4-2 in SEC action.
Trailing 5-1 the Tigers came to life by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. The big blow came off the bat of Rachel Mitchell when she drilled a double off the right-centerfield wall that cleared the bases to score three.
After giving up an early run in the first the Crimson Tide answered in a big way when newcomer Jazlyn Lunceford belted her second career home run on a moon shot over the right field foul pole that plated fellow rookie Cassandra Reilly-Boccia.
Alabama then tacked on two more in the third when sophomore Whitney Larsen followed suit with a blast of her own. Larsen connected for her team-leading seventh home run when hit a two-run shot over the hill in left that brought home Kelley Montalvo.
The Tide would tack on another in the fifth when the Morgan and Rogers connection struck once more. Rogers placed a single to right field and then stole her fifth bag of the day. Morgan then followed with a double to the right-centerfield wall to bring home the Dacula, Ga. native.
Rogers finished the game with a 2-for-4 effort from the plate. Larsen and Lunceford knocked in two runs each. Ashley Applegate and Jessica Mouse tallied two hits apiece for LSU. The Tigers out-hit the Crimson Tide 8-6.
Morgan (7-4) was tagged for her second loss of the day after giving up six runs, five earned with five strikeouts. Kirsten Shortridge (3-2) earned the win, pitching four innings of relief. Shortridge allowed a run on three hits and walked one.
