KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 6 seed LSU softball team beat No. 11 seed Missouri 6-5 on Wednesday night in the final game of the first day of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Sherri Parker Lee Stadium.
The teams averaged a little more than four combined runs per game in their three-game regular-season matchup.
Sahvannah Jaquish hit a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning, her fifth career grand slam at the school, to help LSU advance to face No. 3 Tennessee at approximately 6:30 tonight.
Relief pitcher Sydney Smith (11-6) was credited with the win, while starting pitcher Allie Walljasper was credited with her second save after coming back in to strike out the final batter in the seventh.
n Kentucky 7, South Carolina 3: the No. 7 seed Wildcats were too much for No. 10 seed Gamecocks in Game 3.
Sophomore Abbey Cheek’s two home runs, her second multi-home run game this season and third of her career, helped Kentucky advance to face No. 2 seed Auburn at 4 p.m. today (SEC Network).
Kentucky pitcher Meagan Prince (19-7) allowed two runs and six hits in her complete-game victory. She struck out four.
South Carolina pitcher Nickie Blue (10-10) retired eight of the first 10 batters before the Wildcats took a 3-0 lead in the third. Catcher Bailey Vick singled on a bunt. Brooklin Hinz then cracked an RBI-double into right-center field. On the next pitch, Cheek blasted a two-run home run over the left-field wall.
Kentucky extended the lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth. Down two outs with Kelsee Henson on third, slap-hitter Erin Rethlake’s single dribbled right in front of the batter’s box. South Carolina catcher Jordyn Augustus missed the throw out at first, opening the window for Henson to score from third.
Kentucky extended the lead to 7-0 thanks to a three-run inning that included Cheek’s second home run.
This was Kentucky’s first tournament victory against South Carolina. The Wildcats lost to the Gamecocks in 2000, 2001, and 2013.
n Alabama 4, Arkansas 1:
Bailey Hemphill went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs to lead the No. 5 seed Crimson Tide past the No. 12 seed Razorbacks in the day’s first game.
Alabama (40-13) will play fourth-seeded Texas A&M (42-9) at 11 a.m. today (SEC Network).
Alabama scored three runs in the first and added insurance in the sixth with a solo home run by Hemphill. Elissa Brown was 2-for-3 at the leadoff spot. She has hit safely in nine of her last 10 games.
Sydney Littlejohn (15-7) earned the win after allowing one run in five innings. Alexis Osorio earned her third save of the season with two shutout innings.
Brown led off the bottom of the first with an infield single, stole second and then advanced to third on a groundout. Gabby Callaway was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners before Hemphill dropped a single into shallow center to score Brown to give the Crimson Tide a 1-0 lead. With two runners in scoring position and two out, back-to-back singles by Reagan Dykes and Sydney Booker made it 3-0 before a runner was caught in a rundown to end the bottom of the first.
Arkansas went hitless in the first two innings, but led off the bottom of the third with back-to-back singles and a sacrifice bunt moved the two runners into scoring position. On a hard grounder to Hemphill at first, the runner at third broke for home and Hemphill threw down to Dykes covering the plate for the second out of the inning before a fly ball to center ended the half-inning and kept it a 3-0 game.
In the top of the fourth, Nicole Schroeder got the Razorbacks on the board with a two-out solo home run.
In the top of the sixth, a leadoff single by Arkansas ended Littlejohn’s outing. A groundball to second base allowed Alabama to get out of the inning with a 4-6-3 double play.
A solo home run by Hemphill in the bottom of the sixth added some insurance.
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