April 1, 2006
BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU’s Emily Turner held South Carolina to one hit as the Gamecocks were shutout 9-0 in five innings by the No. 11 LSU Tigers Saturday afternoon. Jessica Josker recorded the lone hit for USC as senior Melanie Henkes took the loss and fell to 5-2.
The Tigers posted 11 hits and nine runs as they scored in each inning of the game. Turner is now 13-2 as she struck out eight and allowed only the one base runner. USC falls to 22-15 and 2-8 in the SEC while LSU improved to 33-5, 8-2 in the conference.
LSU recorded four hits off of Henkes in the bottom of the first to post two runs for a 2-0 lead over the Gamecocks.
Josker broke up the perfect game for Turner in the top of the fourth as she hit an infield single on the first pitch. The hit, however, did not rattle Turner as she retired the next three batters and held the Gamecocks scoreless.
Up 4-0, the Tigers batted through the lineup in the bottom half of the fourth and scored five more runs on four hits and one error to extend the lead 9-0. Lauren Castle reached base twice in the inning as she singled in her first at bat and walked the second time around. Carolina finally got out of the inning when pinch hitter Fallon Fisher lined out to third base.
USC went down in order in the top of the fifth, unable to salvage a run to keep the game alive. Two fly outs and a strikeout by the Gamecocks put the game in the books as USC suffered its second mercy-run loss of the season.
