The LSU Tigers prevailed 3-2 over Alabama after 14 innings in the longest tournament game in SEC history.
In just its second game, the tournament saw its first extra-inning action, as the two teams were tied at 2 after seven. The game remained tied for the next seven innings, extending the game into the 14th.
Freshman pitcher Jocelyn Briski, whose appearance out of the bullpen extended the game, finally allowed the Tigers to get the best of her, as LSU singled four times to eventually walk things off in the bottom of the 14th inning.
Alabama jumped on LSU’s All-SEC Second Team pitcher Sydney Berzon in the first inning. When shortstop Kenleigh Cahalan walked and right fielder Larissa Preuitt singled, the Crimson Tide needed to take advantage of the usually dominant Berzon.
It was a sixth-inning rally by the Tigers that changed the game’s momentum.
LSU only needed one hit to strike back from a two-run deficit. Kayla Beaver hit the second batter of the inning, allowed a single and walked another to load the bases.
Reaching 90-plus pitches, Beaver began to lose control. Four balls plated the first runner of the game for LSU before her third hit batter of the inning brought in the tying run.
Head coach Patrick Murphy decided to have left fielder Jenna Johnson bunt the runners over. Johnson executed the sacrifice to set up second baseman Kali Heivilin with runners on first and second and just one out.
Heivilin slapped the second pitch of the at-bat to the left-center gap, scoring both Cahalan and Preuitt to grab a 2-0 lead.
Heivilin doubled for the second time in the fourth, marking her first multi-double game of the season. Sophomore Abby Duchscherer’s infield single to follow Heivilin put runners at first and third with no outs for the Tide. What looked like a promising opportunity to extend the lead turned into a missed opportunity as Berzon forced three straight groundouts to third.
That inning came back to bite the Crimson Tide, as it was the most promising chance to score the rest of the game since it was the last time Alabama advanced a runner to third base.
Berzon pitched all 14 innings, the most in SEC tournament history for a single game, and only allowed those two first-inning runs.
Although Beaver ultimately let the lead slip through her fingers in the sixth, her first five innings of work were rock-solid. She allowed just four runners in the first five frames.
Like Beaver, Briski was steady until nothing was left in the tank. From her entrance in the seventh inning through the 13th, she kept the game alive by holding the potent LSU offense scoreless.
With the loss, Alabama has been knocked out of the SEC tournament and will await its postseason fate, which will be announced when the selection show airs on Monday.
Multiple teams still have a chance to make resume-boosting arguments in their respective conference tournaments, which could bump the Tide down.
Alabama has never failed to host a regional, but that streak could be in jeopardy as Alabama currently sits at just No. 15 in the current RPI rankings.
