Shortstop Taylor Pleasants stepped to the plate in the eighth inning and went first pitch swinging for a walk-off solo shot to center field as No. 6 LSU rallied over No. 11 Texas A&M, 2-1, in eight innings on Thursday night at Tiger Park.
LSU wins its third consecutive game and is now 27-4 overall and 6-4 in the SEC, while Texas A&M falls to 28-5 and 8-2 in league play. The Fighting Tigers have four walk-off victories this season.
Pleasants hit her fourth career walk-off home run and second of the season in extra innings (Boise State, Feb. 22, 2024). The Houston, Texas native was 0-for-3 coming into the at-bat in the eighth.
Second walk-off homer of the season for TP! #DealUsIn pic.twitter.com/J29n3POJ2w
— LSU Softball (@LSUsoftball) March 29, 2024
Pitcher Sydney Berzon (11-1) earned the win by fanning five batters while allowing seven hits and a run, with three free passes in 8.0 innings.
Aggie pitcher Emiley Kennedy (14-4) was charged with the loss, allowing five hits and two runs with two batters walked while throwing four strikeouts in 7.1 innings of work.
Five Tigers had hits on the night, including outfielder Ciara Briggs’ game-tying RBI in the fifth inning and Pleasants’ homer. Catcher Maci Bergeron, utility pitcher Kelley Lynch, and outfielder McKenzie Redoutey joined the duo.
Texas A&M walked a runner in to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. LSU kept the Aggies off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game, highlighted by Berzon’s five punchouts and a double-play – the 18th of the season.
In the fifth, Bergeron belted a ball into right field for a double, and later, Briggs brought pinch runner Maia Townsend home with a run-scoring single that tied the game 1-1.
Berzon and the LSU defense allowed two base runners in the final three innings.
The series continues with a 5 p.m. CT first pitch for game two on Good Friday.
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