STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Rachel Mitchell turned in a 3-for-8 performance with five RBIs and Brittany Mack picked up two wins in the circle to propel the No. 21 LSU softball team to 5-4 and 4-1 victories Saturday over Mississippi State at the MSU Softball Field.
“It was a workmen like performance today by the Tigers,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “Mississippi State has always been a tough place for us to play. We were very methodically at the plate and Brittany looked awfully good in the circle.”
Sunday’s series finale is slated for 1 p.m. with live stats available on LSUSports.net
Game 1 – LSU 5, Mississippi State 4
Jessica Mouse provided a solo homer run to break a 4-4 tie with two outs in the seventh inning, while Mack fired two innings of one-hit relief to improve to 6-1 in the circle. The Texas native struck out four of the eight batters she faced.
The Tigers (18-6, 5-2 SEC) overcame an early 2-0 deficit by posting four runs in the third inning. Mouse knocked a one-out single before Shortridge reached on a fielding error.
A Jazz Jackson fielder’s choice put runners on the corners and Santos cranked a RBI-single into centerfield to bring the Tigers within 2-1.
On a 0-2 pitch, Mitchell connected for a three-run homer to left centerfield to give LSU a 4-2 edge.
“I’ve been seeing the ball better recently and have been patient at the plate,” Mitchell said. “I’m not being too aggressive and just doing a better job of feeling my swing.”
Mississippi State (14-14, 0-8 SEC) drew even with a pair of runs in the sixth inning. Back-to-back singles by Ali Bainbridge and Sammie Jo Bailey followed by a Kaili Smith RBI-double tied the score at 4-4.
Game 2 – LSU 4, Mississippi State 1
LSU broke through for four runs in the third inning as Kirsten Shortridge and Jazz Jackson strung together a pair of infield singles. Shortridge scored from first base on Jackson’s single on a throwing error by MSU pitcher Lindsey Dunlap.
After a Santos walk, Mitchell delivered a two-run double into the right centerfield gap to make it 3-0. Three batters later, Anissa Young capped the frame with a RBI-single to score pushing the Tiger advantage to 4-0.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the home half of the frame and pulled within 4-1 when Bainbridge was hit-by-a-pitch. Mack buckled down and got Bailey to foul out to end the threat.
“I realized how well my off speed curve was working during the first game and took that same approach into the second game,” Mack said. “It was key for me just to concentrate and focus on hitting my spots taking each inning pitch-by-pitch.”
Mack finished with six strikeouts against two walks and limited MSU to three hits en route to her seventh win of the season. She retired the last eight batters she faced to secure the 4-1 win.
