Panda Meander teams 5K run, talent show
April 2, 2007Hazel Pitre
April 4, 2007
Rutgers hit 8-of-10 three pointers in the first half to take an 18-point lead and never looked back, as the Scarlet Knights handed LSU its fourth-consecutive Women’s Final Four loss, 59-35, on Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Rutgers’ lights-out shooting was only matched by their half-court defense which held the Lady Tigers at bay in every aspect.
After pounding another Big East team, Connecticut, to get to the national semifinal, LSU (30-8) trailed early and never found an offensive spark. All-America center Sylvia Fowles was held to the second-lowest scoring game in her 109-game career, just five points. Fowles was frustrated by several defenders throughout the evening, while the Lady Tigers were unable to hit the perimeter shots.
LSU finished only 14-of-53 shooting, while Rutgers’ 10-of-20 shooting from 3-point range. The Scarlet Knights finished 20 of 51 (39.2 percent). Rutgers (28-7) didn’t allow an LSU player to score in double figures, as point guard Erica White led LSU with nine points on 4-of-10 shooting. Freshman guard Allison Hightower had seven.
BASEBALL TEAM WINS SERIES AT ALABAMA
Steven Waguespack’s two-out, bases-loaded double Sunday gave LSU a 3-0 first-inning lead, and the Tigers went on to defeat No. 25 Alabama, 7-3, in Sewell-Thomas Stadium. LSU (17-12-1, 3-5-1 SEC) won its first Southeastern Conference series of the season. Alabama fell to 18-12 overall and 4-5 in league play. LSU’s four-game road swing concludes at 7 p.m. Tuesday when the Tigers face Tulane at Zephyr Field in Metairie, La. LSU will play host to Auburn this weekend with games on Friday (7 p.m.), Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).
LSU grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Waguespack ripped a double into right-center field with the bases loaded.
LSU increased its advantage to 4-1 in the fifth as centerfielder Jared Mitchell singled, stole second base and scored on second baseman Chris McGhee’s single. The Tigers stretched the lead with a pair of runs in the seventh when Steven Broschofsky tripled and scored on Mitchell’s double to give LSU a 5-3 advantage. Mitchell later scored from third base on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze as McGhee bunted him home.
On Friday, LSU posted a 5-4 victory thanks to a two-out, three-run homer from Michael Hollander in the top of the ninth.
The Tigers fell to Alabama, 5-2, despite leading for most of the game.
SOFTBALL TEAM SWEEPS AUBURN
The long ball leads the sixth-ranked LSU softball team to the Southeastern Conference series sweep of Auburn with a 5-2 win over Auburn on Sunday at Jane B. Moore Field. The Lady Tigers improved to 35-5 overall and 10-2 in conference play and two games ahead of Alabama in the loss column to lead the Western Division.
The series sweep was the second of the year for LSU, who also swept nationally ranked Florida two weeks ago.
The Lady Tigers had two home runs in the game, with Leslie Klein and Tayl’r Hollis each hitting two-run shots, to score four of their five runs. Taking into account Rachel Mitchell’s game winning home run on Saturday, LSU scored seven of its final nine runs of the series off the home run. Dani Hofer earned the win in relief to improve to 14-1 on the year. She allowed just a two-run runs on a home run with five hits and four walks while striking out nine. Hofer came on in second in relief of Emily Turner, who started and pitched one inning. She allowed two hits and a walk.
With two outs in the top of the third, Dee Dee Henderson and Jazz Jackson recorded back-to-back singles that put runners on the corners. Henderson then came around to score on a passed ball by Tatiana Fernandez. Klein then came up with her fifth home run of the season, pounding an opposite field shot over the left field fence to give LSU the 3-0 lead. It was the 28th home run of Klein’s career, putting her in sole possession of second place on the all-time Tiger home run list and just three behind Julie Wiese’s school record of 31.
In the top of the fourth and Vanessa Soto on first after a single to left center, Hollis hit her second home run of the year on a shot to center field. The two-run shot extended LSU’s lead to 5-0.
On Saturday, the Lady Tigers won the first game of the doubleheader, 9-0, in five innings and the second game, 4-1. In the first game, Emily Turner improved to 12-4 by allowing six hits and striking out eight. In the second game, Hofer allowed three hits, a run and struck out nine.
LSU plays host to Kentucky on Tuesday as the teams will play a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. The Lady Tigers will also play host to South Carolina on Friday in a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. and a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
