The LSU Tigers softball team pulled of an upset over top seed Tennessee 2-1 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Thursday evening. The game was originally scheduled for 10 AM but did not get played until 5 PM due to weather.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After winning a marathon 14 inning game against Alabama the day before, LSU did not wait long to get their offense on the board in this one. After three walks, Ali Newland delivered an RBI single to give LSU an early 1-0 lead.
Kelley Lynch got the start for LSU in the circle and she had it going in the early going. The Tennessee offense could not get anything going in the early innings, and that 1-0 lead held for quite a while.
In the top of the fifth inning, LSU was able to get two runners on base. Then, with two outs, Taylor Pleasants delivered an RBI single, doubling the lead and getting it to 2-0.
Lynch continued to roll but ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth. Three singles led to the first run of the game for Tennessee, and LSU made a change in the circle. They went back to Sydney Berzon, who threw more than 200 pitches in the 14-inning win over Alabama yesterday. Berzon got the Tigers out of the jam.
Berzon’s dominance continued. She found a way to navigate through the Tennessee lineup, and got the biggest Vols hitters out in the seventh to secure the win over the defending tournament champions.
BIG NUMBER: 16
Sydney Berzon has now tossed more than 16 innings in the first two days of this tournament. Her efforts in the circle have set up the Tigers to potentially secure a national seed.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Kelley Lynch
Lynch gave the Tigers a big performance in this one. She controlled the Vols lineup for more than half of the contest, and Berzon finished the rest. That kept LSU’s tournament going.
UP NEXT: LSU moves onto the semi-finals of the tournament against either Arkansas or Missouri, which will be played tentatively at 3:00 PM tomorrow, May 10th.