Instant Analysis: LSU softball drops series to Ole Miss with blowout loss on Monday night

The Tigers entered the weekend as the nation’s lone unbeaten, but now they’ll have to bounce back from a series loss.

LSU was riding high coming into this weekend’s home-opening SEC series against Ole Miss after earning a sweep to begin SEC play last weekend.

The Tigers were 23-0 on the year and took Game 1 against the Rebels, but Games 2 and 3 went south. With a blowout 9-2 loss on Monday night, they dropped their first SEC series of the season and fell to 24-2 (4-2 SEC) on the year.

It was Ole Miss’ first series win in Baton Rouge since 2008.

Starting pitcher [autotag]Raelin Chaffin[/autotag] looked like she was going to get through the first two innings without allowing any damage, but with two outs in the second, she gave up a run of five straight singles.

Three runs scored, and Chaffin was yanked from the game in favor of [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag]. After getting out of the second, Lynch gave up a solo shot in the third as Ole Miss jumped out to a 4-0 lead.

LSU would cut that deficit in half as [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag] hit a solo homer of her own in the bottom of the frame, and [autotag]McKenzie Redoutey[/autotag] scored on a wild pitch in the fourth.

However, LSU got into trouble again in the fifth when Lynch loaded up the bases. She allowed a run to score on a fielder’s choice, and after a walk reloaded the bases, a single scored another run.

The Tigers pulled her for [autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag], who immediately gave up a two-RBI single as Ole Miss stretched its lead to 8-2. In the sixth, it added another run off a single.

LSU couldn’t get a rally going in the seventh as it went down in order.

The Tigers will have some time off to lick their wounds before returning to the field next weekend for another road SEC series against Missouri.

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