March 22, 2008
Baton Rouge, La. - Dani Hofer threw a three-hit shutout to lead No. 10 LSU to a 10-0 victory in six innings over the Auburn softball Saturday afternoon.
Auburn fell to 27-7 overall and 7-4 in the Southeastern Conference. LSU improved to 27-4 overall and 6-0 in the league. Auburn returns to action Tuesday with a 3 p.m. game against Mercer in Macon, Ga.
Hofer picked up her third win of the series after earning a complete-game win in game one and a win in relief in game two. Hofer improved to 15-2 and struck four in Saturday's win.
Lauren Schmalz took the loss for Auburn after giving up four runs, all earned, on seven hits in 1.1 innings of work.
LSU got on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Leadoff singles from Dee Dee Henderson and Jazz Jackson put runners on first and second with no outs. A double steal put the runners at second and third. Schmalz then threw a wild pitch that plated Henderson.
Killian Roessner followed with a single up the middle that scored Jackson to push the LSU lead to 2-0.
LSU increased its lead in the second inning when Henderson singled home Erika Sluss, who singled and moved to third on a double by Shannon Stein. The run pushed the LSU lead to 3-0. Jackson followed with a bunt single that loaded the bases with one out.
Brittany Day then relieved Schmalz and gave up an RBI ground out to Rachel Mitchell that scored Stein and gave LSU a 4-0 margin.
LSU extended its lead to 6-0 in the fourth inning. Henderson reached on a fielding error by Jorja Bell and beat the throw from Cassie Trosclair on Jackson's ground ball fielder's choice. Mitchell then put down a sacrifice bunt that Day fielded, but her throw to first was wild and allowed Henderson and Jackson to score.
Still in the fourth, Roessner made it a 7-0 game with a single to right that scored Mitchell. Angel Bunner relieved Day and retired the next three LSU hitters to end the inning.
In the sixth, Quinlan Duhon hit a three-run home run to left that scored Mitchell and Roessner to end the game under the eight-run rule. Duhon's home run made it 10-0.