Two teams in search of their own identities. One, an undefeated squad that hadn’t had a chance to see what they were made of against top-level competition. The other, a blue blood program that hadn’t risen to expectations through the season’s early-goings.
With the Texas Longhorns in town for a 3-game series against the LSU Tigers, Baton Rouge promised great softball this weekend, and oh boy, did it deliver.
Friday night’s game officially went into the books as a two hour, fifty-six minute affair, but the final out actually came some twenty hours after the first pitch was thrown. A storm system moving into the area postponed the series opener overnight, and the game paused in the top of the 7th with two Texas runners on base and nobody out.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Texas wasted no time when the game came back, as Colleen Sullivan laid down the first sacrifice bunt of her career on the first pitch from Ali Kilponen. A 2-RBI base hit from Taylor Ellsworth followed, and Texas pulled out an 8-5 win in game one.
Unfortunately for the Longhorn faithful, though, that would be their team’s only positive takeaway from the weekend.
Molly Jacobsen and Shelbi Sunseri engaged in a pitcher’s duel in game two, and the Tigers emerged with a 2-1 win to turn game three into a rubber match. And in that rubber match, the LSU bats came alive.
With a final score of 7-2 in game three, LSU took the series win and exposed some weaknesses in Texas’ roster. Aliyah Andrews hit her first career over-the-fence home run – her second career home run, following an inside-the-parker earlier this year – and COVID-freshman Cait Calland also hit her first career longball.
FIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM THE SERIES
Shealyn O’Leary, Texas’ de facto ace after the preseason departure of Miranda Elish, suffered an injury in game one and did not return to the series after departing in the sixth inning of that game. She warmed up in the bullpen at one point during game three, but Mike White did not call on her when the time came to make a pitching change. If the injury – to a finger on her pitching hand – were to linger, it could be a major factor to watch as Texas rebounds from this trip to the Bayou and readies for conference play.
The biggest domino to fall for Texas this weekend was the exposure of their offense. In the series opener, Shannon Rhodes hit a solo home run; Mary Iakopo worked a pair of walks; and Janae Jefferson recorded an RBI. All three contributed to the Longhorns’ opening victory. In the latter pair of games, though, the three stars combined to go 2-22 with seven strikeouts. Yes, you read that right; two hits in twenty-two at-bats. Jefferson did score a run in the bottom of the 7th of the final game, with LSU already up by six runs, but the lack of production from the three bonafide stars really hurt Texas at the plate. Iakopo struck out five times on the weekend and at times, she looked absolutely lost in the batter’s box. Unless the Horns can make adjustments, that development does not bode well for their chances in conference play.
LSU was not without their own issues – Shelby Wickersham still needs to figure things out in the circle, and it took their own offense a while to click – but they should come away from the weekend with far more positives on their chalkboard. Ali Kilponen and Shelbi Sunseri each turned in gems from the circle on Saturday, and both recorded complete-game wins. The stellar Tigers pitching staff is finally starting to look like themselves again.
On the offensive side of the ball, LSU’s biggest victory is Aliyah Andrews sending opposing defenses into quite the positioning quandary. In years past, Andrews’ scouting report was well-known – puts the ball on the ground, then speed, speed, and more speed. In 2021, though, she has extended the field and knocked plenty of base hits onto the outfield grass. In the early part of the weekend, she had a pair of base knocks that led to Texas errors and runs scored for her Tigers, then hit the afore-mentioned home run in game 3. She’s no longer solely a “small ball” player, and opposing defenses are going to have headaches trying to defend the full field when she’s at the plate and then rounding the basepaths.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the weekend, though, was the quality of the series itself. We’ve grown used to non-conference matchups of this level being limited to one-time affairs in Clearwater or Cathedral City, and rarely get to see a full Super Regional-style series in the early season and between two of the nation’s best from opposing conferences. This series promised great softball and it unequivocally delivered, no matter where your rooting interests lie.
