In the midst of a teamwide offensive slump, LSU softball coach Beth Torina encouraged her players to think about scoring runs and not hitting.
The No. 10 Tigers took it to heart Saturday evening by scoring in every inning in which they batted during a 9-4 victory against Liberty to clinch the series at Tiger Park.
The best news was a big night for struggling shortstop Taylor Pleasants, who knocked in three runs with her eighth home run and first in 12 games since a dinger against Southeastern Louisiana on April 12. It broke a four-game hitless streak for her, and the three RBIs were her most since getting four against Austin Peay on Feb. 24.
“Definitely a relief, rounding the bases and seeing all my teammates celebrating,” said Pleasants, who tied Ali Newland for the team home run lead. “It means a lot. They knew I was struggling.
"Any time we have offensive production like that it’s a good sign, especially going into postseason. We’re looking forward to keeping it rolling.”
Pleasants brought one run home with a bases-loaded walk and another on an RBI grounder. Raeleen Gutierrez had three hits and two RBIs while Karli Petty also homered and Hannah Carson added a run-scoring double late.
"They did a great job with team offense trying to find ways to score,” Torina said. “It’s not about hitting or who gets hits, it’s about finding ways to score runs. We did a great job of scoring a lot.
“We worked this week on trying to execute things. Trying to move runners, manufacture runs, bunt, hit behind runners, sacrifice fly. We’re seeing some of the things this weekend we worked on in practice.”
Kelley Lynch (7-2) was the winning pitcher and went 5⅔ innings before running out of gas. Rae Chaffin came in to stifle a bases-loaded threat in the sixth and retired the Flames 1-2-3 in the seventh.
Pleasants and Petty hit their home runs back-to-back in the fourth inning off of reliever Paige Bachman.
Brynn McManus and Megan Fortner hit solo home runs for Liberty (31-22).
LSU, which left 11 runners on base, had plenty of chances in the first three innings thanks to the wildness of Liberty starter Kaylan Yoder (10-8). She walked eight but limited the damage. Pleasants' walk in the first inning pushed across a run, and Gutierrez hit a bases-loaded single in the second to knock in two more.
LSU (38-13) loaded the bases again in the third inning on a walk to Carson and singles by Petty and Madyson Manning. Ciara Briggs singled to bring home one run and Carson scored on a wild pitch, after which Bachman replaced Yoder.
Lynch was one out away from escaping the sixth inning, but after a long delay for a replay review she appeared to lose command of her pitches. With a runner on third, she issued a walk before a double by Megan Fortner scored both runners. She then hit KK Madrey with a pitch and walked Brooke Roberts to load the bases before getting the hook.
Chaffin entered the game facing the tying run in Rachel Craine, but struck her out looking to end the threat.
"That was a big pitch in a big moment to come in with the bases loaded and get a strikeout like that, especially in the zone we had,” Torina said. “It was a really big moment for her. Hopefully that lifts her and carries her as well.”