KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Utility pitcher Kelley Lynch tallied her second consecutive shutout and a solo shot from first baseman Raeleen Gutierrez led No. 7 LSU past No. 4 Tennessee, 1-0, to even the series Saturday afternoon at Lee Stadium. With the victory, Head Coach Beth Torina earned her 527th victory at LSU, making her the program’s winningest coach.
In the rich history of LSU Athletics, Beth Torina is among five coaches of head-to-head team sports with at least 500 career wins at LSU. She passes Yvette Girouard (526 wins) and trails only Skip Bertman (870), Paul Mainieri (641), and Harry Rabenhorst (569). Torina is the only active coach at LSU with 500 or more wins.
LSU is now 35-9 this season and 11-9 in the SEC. Tennessee falls to 33-8 and 13-4 in league play.
Lynch (6-1) tossed her fifth shutout this season and the ninth in her career. She fanned six batters and allowed four hits and two walks.
Lynch and the LSU defense retired seven of the final eight Tennessee batters faced, highlighted by Lynch’s strikeout to end the game. No groundouts were recorded in the game for Tennessee. The last time an SEC opponent did not record a groundout against LSU was on March 9, 2002, versus Florida. The pitcher of record was Britni Sneed.
Pitcher Karlyn Pickens (15-5) was charged the loss after allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Gutierrez scored the game’s lone run in the fourth inning with a solo shot to right field. It is the only extra-base hit of the series for either club entering the series finale. The last time LSU won 1-0 with a home run was on April 7, 2018, against Ole Miss, hit by Shelbi Sunseri.
Up Next
The series finale will begin at 1 p.m. central on Sunday.
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