Closing out a five-game homestand, the Lady Lions softball team was defeated by Louisiana State University at North Oak Park on March 16. 

The 16-7 Tigers broke the 12-11 Lions’ four-game winning streak in the sold-out non-conference matchup. 

LSU opened the game with a two-run lead in the top of the first inning. The teams left the third and sixth innings scoreless, with senior outfielder Anna Rodenberg scoring the Lady Lions’ only run in the fourth.

Head softball coach Rick Fremin said the team needs to pick up the pace for their next game.

“The team did not play well tonight in my opinion. That’s where we are, and we gotta have a good practice tomorrow and get back on track for conference,” he said.

Fremin said the team pitched well, commending freshman Ellie DuBois, who pitched five strikeouts, but said work needs to be done on the offensive side of the game.

He said, “We saw good pitching tonight, and we need to do a good job of putting the ball in the ground and not in the air, giving them those easy outs.

Junior outfielder Aeriyl Mass led the Lady Lions with 3-for-4 at-bats. She said that even though the team’s synergy could have been stronger, she believed the team worked to accomplish what they could on the field tonight. 

“I feel like we could have played better as a team, but I believe when we got runners on, we tried to do what we could, and defensively, we were laying out trying to get every ball that we could. It just didn’t fall in our favor,” she said.

LSU marked a grand slam in the top of the seventh inning, closing out the scoring for the game. Freshman outfielder Audrey Greely, 2-for-3 at-bats, and Mass both singled in the bottom of the seventh, but the Tigers earned three outs with two Lady Lions left on base.

Mass explained how she keeps pushing in the final moments of the game even when the opponent has a substantial lead.

“At the end of the day, the game’s not over. We still have to do what we need to do to get any kind of runs, and that’s just what your mindset’s gotta be in the end,” she said.

The Lady Lions will hit the road to face the Houston Baptist Huskies in a three-game conference series on March 19 and 20.