KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- After taking the first game of the weekend Friday, No. 1 LSU was on the cusp of doing something it had never done before on Saturday. And after scoring four runs early, the Tigers produced some insurance scores late in holding off No. 11 Tennessee 7-4 on Saturday afternoon to claim its first series in Knoxville in program history.
LSU (38-4, 11-3 Southeastern Conference) scored early and often, jutting out to a 4-0 lead on Tennessee (29-11, 7-7), and after seeing the Lady Vols cut the advantage to just two, the Tigers used a key, three-run frame thanks to a UT miscue to pull ahead and thwart the comeback attempt by Tennessee.
Leading the way for LSU at the plate was Constance Quinn, who went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored, including a big two-run home run in the fourth to give the Tigers that four-run lead on her third long ball of the season. The three runs driven in tied her career high, as the team finished with eight total hits coming from the bat of seven different players throughout the lineup.
Allie Walljasper earned the start and pitched 3.2 innings for LSU in the circle, allowing two unearned runs on five hits with four strikeouts, as Kelsee Selman (8-0) came on in relief with runners on the corners and got out of the jam with a fly out. She went on to pitch the next 3.1 innings, earning the victory by allowing two runs on three hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
Both teams committed two errors, but LSU was able to capitalize on them at key times, as UT starter Erin Gabriel (12-5) suffered the loss after giving up four runs, three earned, on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts in three innings. Her replacement in Gretchen Aucoin pitched the next four and allowed three runs, only one earned, on two hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
