Pleasants’ walk-off homer secures sweep for No. 18 LSU

BATON ROUGE, The. – No. 18 LSU (7-0) swept the opening day of the Tiger Classic in dramatic fashion. Freshman pitcher Alea Johnson (2-0) threw her first career shutout in an 8-0, five-inning win over Ohio (2-3), and Taylor Pleasants led Utah (5-2) into the seventh inning with a three-run home run on Saturday. at Tiger Park.

LSU has been shutout in three of seven games this season to go along with four shutouts. Pleasants registered the Fighting Tigers first home run victory since Shelbi Sunseri against Drake in February 2022.

“That’s why they call us the War Tigers,” said Head Coach Beth Torina. “When we went out, we had a breather. We had a chance and I showed that.”

Pleasants continued to be a force at the dish, going 4-for-8 with seven RBIs on the day. Infielders Ciara Briggs, Danieca Coffey and Karli Petty all recorded three hits on the day. Briggs and Coffey also led the team in three-pointers.

Game One

Johnson pitched the first shutout of his career against the Bobcats, where he pitched a complete game, striking out three while allowing just three hits in five innings.

Pleasants went 2-for-4 from the plate and recorded a season-high four RBIs. Outfielder Ali Newland had his second multi-RBI game of the season with two RBIs in the game. Outfielder McKenzie Redoutey tallied five total bases in two extra-base hits, including a triple and a double.

The game marked the third time this season the Tigers had 11 or more hits in a game.

LSU gained ground in the second round. Petty led off the inning with a double, setting up Newland’s RBI single. After Redoutey hit the Tigers’ second hit of the frame, outfielder Savannah Stewart brought Newland home on a sac fly to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead heading into the third. LSU immediately followed up the two-run effort with another run in the third inning thanks to a sac fly from Newland that plated infielder Georgia Clark.

The Tigers continued to dominate offensively in the fourth inning. Pleasants lined a two-RBI single up the middle, bringing in Coffey and Briggs to increase the Tigers’ margin, 5-0.

Pleasants hit a two-RBI single to start the fifth inning, and Clark drove in an insurance run to complete the run for the Tigers.

Game Two

Ali Kilponen (2-0) started the game against Utah where he pitched 3.2 innings and had one strikeout before freshman Sydney Berzon (2-0) came on in relief with two outs in the top of the fourth inning. Berzon finished the game throwing 3.1 innings and allowing one run in the come-from-behind victory.

Pleasants stole the show once again, going 2-for-4 from the plate with three RBIs all coming on a walk-off homer. Coffey and outfielder Raeleen Gutierrez tied Pleasants for the team lead in hits with two, while both also tacked on an RBI.

Utah strung together three runs through the first three innings, but the Tigers responded in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own. Gutierrez drove in Redoutey with the first triple of his career. Coffey came up for the next at bat and hit an RBI single to cut into Utah’s lead, 3-2.

The Utes managed to score one run in the top of the fifth, but once again the Tigers answered. After Coffey singled, Briggs battled at the plate going 11 pitches before ripping an RBI double to right field to make it 4-3 Utah to end the fifth inning.

After holding Utah scoreless for the final two innings, Gutierrez hit a leadoff single through the right side and was caught by freshman Maia Townsend. With one out, Briggs reached on a fielding error to put runners on the corners. Pleasants stepped into the batter’s box next, and with a 1-0 count, he sent a moonshot to deep center field, giving the Tigers their first walk of the season, 6-4.

It was the Tigers’ first shutout win since Shelby Sunseri defeated Drake in February 2022.

On Deck

LSU will face off against Central Arkansas at 4 pm and Utah at 6:30 pm on Saturday, February 18 at Tiger Park.