Editor’s Note: The following is an official press release courtesy of LSU’s Athletics Department.
BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 10/12 LSU (23-3) fell 5-0 to No. 4/5 Tennessee (22-1) Friday night at Tiger Park to open the three-game series.
“I didn’t like our approach,” said head coach Beth Torina. “I think we have to fight harder, not just on the plate but on the whole field. That was one of the worst performances of the year in terms of our mentality, so I think we’ll do better tomorrow.”
Graduate pitcher Ali Kilponen (8-1) pitched her eighth full game of the season. Kilponen knocked out seven batters and gave up six hits, four earned runs and seven walks in the loss.
The Tigers’ offensive was limited to two hits during the night. Junior outfielder Ali Newland recorded one hit, and grad infielder Karli Petty hit the second and the only extra base hit for the home team.
Tennessee pitcher Ashley Rogers (8-0) fanned out nine batters and dealt three walks to go along with the two hits in the overall game effort.
Kilponen started the night by retiring six of the game’s first seven batters, including four strikeouts. After two scoreless innings, however, UT’s second outfielder Katie Taylor hit a two-run homer to start scoring and finished the inning with a 4-0 lead.
The Tigers threatened Petty’s leadoff double in the fifth inning, but two runners stayed on base to finish the frame. The Lady Vols added another run at the top of the seventh and the Tigers were eliminated to fall 5-0 in the last-half innings.
On board
LSU plays the second game of the series against Tennessee at 5 p.m. Saturday.
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Story originally appeared on LSU Tigers Wire
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