LSU softball knocks off No. 1 seed Tennessee in SEC tournament quarterfinals
LSU needed 14 innings to dispatch Alabama in the first round of the SEC tournament on Wednesday. Against top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers in Thursday’s quarterfinal, it took just seven.
After a seven-hour weather delay, the Tigers held on to win 2-1 against the defending tournament champion Volunteers, and now they move on to the semifinal round on Friday.
LSU drew first blood in the opening inning with an RBI single from Ali Newland, though it ultimately proved to be a missed opportunity as it left three runners on base in the frame.
The Tigers missed out on opportunities to expand on that lead, stranding a runner in both the second and fourth innings. But in the fifth, Taylor Pleasants gave them some insurance with an RBI single.
That two-run advantage wouldn’t last long, however. In the bottom of the frame, Kelley Lynch allowed her first run of the day after an RBI single, and that was enough for Beth Torina to make a change with runners now at second and third.
Sydney Berzon, the hero from the opening round win, entered the game and drew a strikeout to escape the jam. LSU stranded another runner in the top of the sixth, but Berzon worked through the bottom of the inning cleanly as the Tigers were now three outs away from knocking out the top team in the tournament.
Berzon allowed a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Vols weren’t able to mount a rally.
LSU will now advance to face the winner of the game between No. 4-seeded Arkansas and No. 5-seeded Missouri in the semifinals on Friday. That game will be at 3 p.m. CT.
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