May 10, 2007
AUBURN, Ala. – In a hard fought 10-inning battle, LSU’s Killian Roessner hit a two-out sacrifice fly to score Jazz Jackson for the winning run and the 2-1 victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks in day one of the SEC Softball Tournament. Held at Jane B. Moore Field on the campus of Auburn University, the Gamecocks were the second team eliminated from the tournament as they fell to 34-23 on the season. McKenna Hughes hit her 10th home run of the season, tying the school record, while Melissa Hendon pitched her longest outing of the season in 9.2 innings. Dani Hofer also pitched her longest outing of the season as she gave up one run on six hits in 10 innings pitched.
“We should have extended it another inning, that’s for sure. I thought we came out and played hard every pitch. I thought we came out very aggressive. We kind of stopped the aggression in the latter part of the game, and I thought we let too many good pitches get by,” said head coach Joyce Compton. “Defensively, I thought we came out and did what we needed to do. Melissa (Hendon) pitched a great game. She deserved to get the win. That’s a tough loss when you’re out there, and you hold a top team like that down and not figure out a way to score another run some place along the line. If we had stayed aggressive, we could maybe have had a little different outcome.”
Hendon allowed two runs on seven hits and struck out seven, the most she has had since April 24 against Florida. Both teams were evenly matched in the early innings of the game, and the Gamecocks came out aggressively and managed to get base runners in the first five innings. Lisa Longo extended her hitting streak to five games when she singled in the third.
The Gamecocks had runners at first and second with one out in the third but Jessica Josker fouled out to third baseman Tayl’r Hollis who made a diving backhanded catch and a chopper back to Hofer by Lindsay Walker ended the inning for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina jumped on the board first with a solo home run by McKenna Hughes in the fifth. The home was the tenth of the season for Hughes, and tied the school record for home runs in a single season. On a 1-0 count with two outs, she belted the ball off the wall in left centerfield for No. 32 of her career.
“The first pitch was a change-up for a ball, and I pretty much decided, if it was going to be a hard pitch, I was going to swing at it,” said Hughes. “I caught it and it went.”
In the bottom of the sixth, Rachel Mitchell led off with a double to represent the tying run. The Tigers eventually loaded the bases after an intentional walk and a single by Leslie Stein with one out. In a jam, Vanessa Soto hit the ball deep to centerfield for a sacrifice fly and LSU tied the game 1-1, scoring Mitchell. The Gamecocks were able to get out of the inning without anymore damage done with another fly out to centerfield.
South Carolina threatened in the eighth when they had runners at the corners and one out. It would turn out to be their last chance to score. Josker reached on an error by Mitchell and Walker singled to advance pinch runner Tori Martin to third. However, the Gamecocks could not execute as Adele Voigt popped up and Becky Martinez went down looking to strand the runners and end the inning.
In the final two innings of the game, the Hofer retired the Gamecocks in order and in the bottom of the 10th, Jackson drew a one-out walk to represent the winning run. Mitchell, who followed with her second double of the game, third hit overall, moved Jackson to third and put the winning run within 60 feet for Roessner, who hit a fly ball to center field. Martin made the catch and had a fairly accurate throw to the plate, but Jackson slid right under Hughes for the game winning run.
For the first time since April 21, South Carolina was not involved in a shutout. The Gamecocks’ previous nine games were shutouts with South Carolina going 3-6. Hughes led the Gamecocks at the plate as she went 2-for-4 in her final SEC Tournament game of her career. The Gamecocks are now 5-2 in extra-inning games and have played in 10 extra-innings games this season.
This marks the sixth straight SEC Tournament loss for the Gamecocks who have not won a tournament game since 2003. South Carolina will now wait to find out if they will advance to the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday, May 13 at 3 p.m. (ET). The parings will be announced live on ESPNews between 3-4 p.m. (ET).
LSU 2, South Carolina 1 (May 10, 2007 at Auburn, Ala.)
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South Carolina…… 000 010 000 0 – 1 6 0 (34-23)
LSU…………….. 000 001 000 1 – 2 7 1 (50-10)
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Pitchers: South Carolina – Melissa Hendon. LSU – Dani Hofer.
Win-Dani Hofer(22-2) Loss-Melissa Hendon(17-16) T-2:27 A-746 HR SC – McKenna Hughes.
