Tag: Kelley Lynch

Sydney Berzon named LSWA Pitcher of the Year

Sydney Berzon headlines the six Tigers players who were honored by the LSWA on the All-Louisiana teams.

After a fantastic sophomore season at LSU, softball’s [autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag] has been named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association Pitcher of the Year in the state.

Berzon was also an All-American this season and last, finishing 2024 with a 20-9 record and 1.78 ERA while striking out 185 batters. Her play also earned her First Team All-Louisiana honors for the second year in a row.

She’s joined on the First Team by shortstop [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag], outfielder [autotag]Ciara Briggs[/autotag] and utlitily [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag]. On the Second Team, outfielder Ali Newland was the only Tiger who made the cut though [autotag]Raeleen Gutierrez[/autotag] earned an honorable mention at first base.

The Tigers are certainly poised for a changing of the guard after this season. Of these six players, only Berzon is set to return in 2025. There will be a lot of new pieces for coach [autotag]Beth Torina[/autotag], but she’ll hope to find a core as talented as this one.

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LSU falls to Stanford in Game 2 of super regional

LSU couldn’t carry over its offensive performance from Friday as the Tigers dropped Game 2.

After an offensive explosion in Game 1, LSU softball failed to conjure up the same fireworks in Game 2. Stanford’s NiJaree Canady had a season-worst performance on Friday but returned to ace form on Saturday evening.

Canady held LSU hitless through four and when the Tigers got runners on late, the lineup couldn’t cash in. Canady, who led the nation in ERA entering the super regional, made the clutch pitches to preserve the shutout.

For most of the night, LSU’s [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] went pitch for pitch with Canady. But Stanford got to Lynch in the fourth when Taryn Kern and Kyran Chan notched back-to-back extra base hits. Stanford seized momentum and added two insurance runs in the seventh, but Lynch stuck it out and completed the game.

Lynch allowed seven hits and struck out three on the night.

On offense, LSU threatened Canady a few times. The Tigers’ lineup brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, but the timely hits weren’t there.

[autotag]Ciara Briggs[/autotag] and [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag] were the only Tigers to record hits on Saturday night while Lynch drew a couple of walks.

Torina and LSU will look to win the decisive game three on Sunday to clinch its first Women’s College World Series appearance since 2017. With Canady making back-to-back starts, pitching depth could be on LSU’s side entering Sunday, but the lineup will have to deliver.

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LSU softball shut out in Game 2 of Stanford Super Regional

LSU will face Stanford in a decisive Game 3 on Sunday night.

After turning in one of its best offensive performances in Game 1 of the Stanford Super Regional on Friday night, the LSU softball team was shut out in a 3-0 loss in Game 2 on Saturday.

Now, coach Beth Torina’s team faces Stanford in a winner-takes-all Game 3 on Sunday.

It was a low-scoring game in which hits were hard to come by for the Tigers. The Cardinal also struggled offensively against [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag], but they did manage a couple of runs on RBI doubles in the third and seventh innings. It also added a run on an RBI single in the seventh.

LSU, meanwhile, couldn’t do much of anything against NiJaree Canady after shelling her in Game 1 on Friday. It totaled just two hits in the loss.

The Tigers will play for their season on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. CT.

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LSU softball run-rules Stanford in Game 1 of super regional with electric offensive performance

The Tigers delivered one of their best offensive outings of the year against an elite pitcher.

LSU softball saved arguably its best offensive performance of the season for a good time.

Facing one of the nation’s top pitchers in Stanford’s NiJaree Canady to open super regional play on Friday night, the Tigers shelled her en route to an 11-1 run-rule win in five innings.

LSU got things going on offense early. After a single and an error that allowed a runner to reach to lead off the top of the first, [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] hit an RBI double, followed by a two-RBI single from [autotag]Raeleen Gutierrez[/autotag] as it was 3-0 with no outs yet in the game.

But that was all the Tigers managed, and after Stanford got a run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single, things were quiet until the fifth inning. [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag] and [autotag]Maci Bergergon[/autotag] added to that lead with a pair of RBI homers as LSU led 7-1.

That wasn’t all the Tigers had in store. After three straight singles, Lynch completely broke the game open with a grand slam, giving the team an 11-1 lead that was at the run-rule margin.

The lead ultimately held as LSU finished things up early in the fifth. Now, coach Beth Torina’s team will go into Saturday’s Game 2 with the chance to punch its first ticket to the Women’s College World Series since 2017.

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LSU softball run-rules Southern Illinois to advance to super regionals

LSU advances to a super regional for the 10th time in program history and first since 2021.

LSU’s breezy run through the Baton Rouge Regional continued on Sunday. The Tigers shut out Southern Illinois 9-0 in run-rule fashion as they took the opening game of the regional final and advanced to the super regionals next weekend.

[autotag]Raeleen Gutierrez[/autotag] got the scoring started in the bottom of the first, connecting on a two-out RBI double to right field as LSU led 1-0 early. [autotag]Karli Petty[/autotag] added to that in the second with an RBI single with two runners on base.

After a sacrifice flyout from [autotag]Ciara Briggs[/autotag], [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag] really broke the game wide open with a three-run homer as the Tigers put up a five-spot in the frame to go up 6-0.

The flood continued for LSU in the third, with [autotag]Maci Bergeron[/autotag] hitting a two-run bomb followed by a solo shot from Petty. [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] wrapped up the one-hit complete game in the fifth, earning a shutout win while striking out six batters.

Now, LSU advances to the super regional round for the 10th time in program history and first since 2021, where it will either travel to face No. 8 national seed Stanford or host Cal State Fullerton in Baton Rouge.

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LSU softball falls to Missouri on extra-innings walk-off in SEC tournament semifinals

LSU’s run at the SEC tournament came to an end on Friday in another extra-innings battle.

LSU softball’s run at the SEC tournament in Auburn, Alabama, came to an end on Friday evening.

The Tigers found themselves in another low-scoring extra-innings battle, this time against Missouri in the semifinal round. In a game that went to the eighth tied at one run apiece, Missouri ultimately walked it off with a sacrifice fly and will move on to the SEC championship.

Mizzou stranded a pair of baserunners in each of the first two innings, but it finally got on the board first with a solo home run off [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] in the third on what was its first hit of the game.

LSU had less trouble finding hits but couldn’t get on the board until the fifth inning when [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag] led off with a double, and a double from [autotag]Madyson Manning[/autotag] later in the frame scored the Tigers’ first run of the game with one out. That was all they managed in the inning, however, as we went to the sixth in a tie game.

That tie would last through the seventh, and after LSU went down in order in the top of the eighth, Mizzou had no such troubles as it managed to end the game.

The Tigers will now await their NCAA tournament fate. They are essentially a lock to host a regional and could find themselves hosting a super regional, as well.

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Photos from LSU softball’s SEC tournament win over No. 1 Tennessee

The Tigers won 2-1 to knock off the top seed at the tournament. Now, they’re moving on to the semifinals.

LSU is moving on to the semifinal round of the 2024 SEC softball tournament after surviving a 2-1 pitching battle in the quarterfinals against top-seeded Tennessee on Thursday.

What was supposed to be a morning game became an evening one as it was delayed seven hours due to weather. The Tigers scored one run in the first inning and no more until the fifth, but the pitching tandem of [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] and [autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag], who tossed 208 pitches the day before, held up.

LSU now moves on to face either No. 4-seeded Arkansas or No. 5-seeded Missouri on Friday. In the meantime, here are the best photos from the win.

LSU softball knocks off No. 1 seed Tennessee in SEC tournament quarterfinals

LSU knocked off the defending tournament champions and move on to the semifinal round.

LSU needed 14 innings to dispatch Alabama in the first round of the SEC tournament on Wednesday. Against top-seeded Tennessee Volunteers in Thursday’s quarterfinal, it took just seven.

After a seven-hour weather delay, the Tigers held on to win 2-1 against the defending tournament champion Volunteers, and now they move on to the semifinal round on Friday.

LSU drew first blood in the opening inning with an RBI single from [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag], though it ultimately proved to be a missed opportunity as it left three runners on base in the frame.

The Tigers missed out on opportunities to expand on that lead, stranding a runner in both the second and fourth innings. But in the fifth, [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag] gave them some insurance with an RBI single.

That two-run advantage wouldn’t last long, however. In the bottom of the frame, [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] allowed her first run of the day after an RBI single, and that was enough for [autotag]Beth Torina[/autotag] to make a change with runners now at second and third.

[autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag], the hero from the opening round win, entered the game and drew a strikeout to escape the jam. LSU stranded another runner in the top of the sixth, but Berzon worked through the bottom of the inning cleanly as the Tigers were now three outs away from knocking out the top team in the tournament.

Berzon allowed a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Vols weren’t able to mount a rally.

LSU will now advance to face the winner of the game between No. 4-seeded Arkansas and No. 5-seeded Missouri in the semifinals on Friday. That game will be at 3 p.m. CT.

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LSU softball clinches series win against Liberty in Game 2

The Tigers sealed a win in their final regular season series on Saturday night.

The LSU softball team lost four-straight series to conclude SEC play, but it’ll head into the SEC tournament with some momentum after it secured a victory in the final series of the regular season in Game 2 against Liberty.

The Tigers jumped out to a big lead early and ultimately held on to win 9-4.

LSU was the first to strike in the bottom of the opening frame when [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag] drew a bases-loaded walk. However, that’s all the Tigers managed to reap from the opportunity.

Liberty evened things up with a solo shot in the top of the second, but a [autotag]Raeleen Gutierrez[/autotag] single in the bottom of the inning plated a pair of runs and gave LSU the lead back.

It extended that lead the following inning after an RBI single from [autotag]Ciara Briggs[/autotag] and a wild pitch that allowed [autotag]Hannah Carson[/autotag] to score. The Flames managed to cut into that deficit a bit with another solo home run in the fourth, but it was one step forward, two steps back again.

Pleasants and [autotag]Karli Petty[/autotag] led off the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back homers, extending the lead to 7-2. The Tigers added to that lead further in the fifth with a groundout from Pleasants, which allowed them to score a run.

Liberty attempted a rally in the sixth, scoring a pair of runs on a two-RBI double, but Carson got a run back for LSU on an RBI double of her own.

[autotag]Raelin Chaffin[/autotag], who pitched the final 1.1 innings after [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] earned the win, closed things out with three straight outs in the top of the seventh.

The Tigers will go for the sweep in Game 3, which will be on Sunday at 5 p.m. CT.

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LSU softball ends SEC play with 4-straight series losses after Game 2 loss to Arkansas

The Tigers will look to avoid a sweep on Sunday.

The LSU softball team has spent most of the season ranked in the top 10, but it’s going to enter the postseason without much momentum.

The Tigers lost 4-1 in Game 2 on Saturday at home to Arkansas, dropping their fourth-straight SEC series to close out conference regular season play.

After a quiet first inning, the teams each added a run in the second inning as Arkansas hit an RBI double in the top of the frame and LSU scored on a wild pitch following a pair of singles in the bottom of it.

The third, however, is when things fell apart for [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] on the mound. She walked four batters in the frame, two of which came with the bases loaded. She then gave up an RBI single as LSU fell behind 4-1, and she was pulled from the game in favor of [autotag]Raelin Chaffin[/autotag].

Heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Tigers needed quite a bit of magic. Things didn’t get off to a great start with two outs, but after a walk and a single, the tying run came to the plate.

With the series hanging on Ali Newland’s shoulders, she made contact and sent a ball deep, but it wasn’t deep enough as the Razorbacks averted disaster and clinched the series.

The Tigers will look to avoid a sweep in Game 3 on Sunday in the final conference game of the regular season before it hosts Liberty next weekend when it hosts Liberty to close out the regular season overall.

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