Berzon Tosses Shutout, Earns Save in Tigers Day Two Sweep

Photo By: Michael Bacigalupi

Da Boot Sports
2/11/2023
LSU Sports Communications
By: Keonte Herrera


   BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 20/25 LSU (3-0) swept day two of the LSU Invitational with a pair of run-rule games. Freshman pitcher Sydney Berzon opened the day with a one-hit, 12-0 shutout win in her collegiate debut against No. 19/25 Oregon (1-2) State and picked up her first collegiate save in the 11-3 victory over New Mexico (2-3).
 
Overall, Berzon finished with a 0.00 ERA and held the opponent’s batting average to .087 behind six strikeouts in 6.2 innings of work.
 
Taylor Pleasants had herself a day at the plate. Pleasants led the Tigers with a 4-for-7 performance at the dish with two home runs, five RBIs and scored five runs. Ali Newland matched Pleasants five ribbies and went 2-for-4 at the plate highlighted by a three-run shot against New Mexico.
 
Georgia Clark went 2-for-2 which included a two-run homer in the game against Oregon State and drew a total of five walks. Danieca Coffey logged three hits total on the day, while Ciara Brigs matched a team-high five runs scored.
 
LSU’s 11-3 victory over New Mexico marks the first time an LSU team has scored 10 or more runs in each of their first three games in a season.
 
Game One
 
Berzon (1-0) shined in her debut with a one-hit shutout against the Beavers. The Freshman started the game by retiring eight consecutive batters and ultimately retired 15 of the 16 batters she faced to go along with five strikeouts.
 
Pleasants took charge offensively for the Tigers going 2-for-4 from the plate highlighted by a three-run shot in the second inning. McKenzie Redoutey had a day at the plate as well, batting 2-for-3 with two ribbies, and Clark also drove in a pair of runs with a homer of her own. 
 
After Berzon retired three straight batters to begin the game, the Tigers put up four runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to RBIs from Karli Petty, Redoutey and Hannah Carson.
 
The bats stayed hot for the Tigers in the second inning. Coffey singled and Briggs drew walk to setup Pleasants’ 3-run homer to centerfield. The Fighting Tigers plated two more in the bottom of the second courtesy of RBIs by Newland and Redoutey. LSU ended the inning with a 9-0 lead.
 
Clark kept the offense rolling with a 2-run jack to right field. Maci Bergeron drove in one more run in the bottom of the fourth to increase the Tigers lead, 12-0. Oregon State would go three-up and three-down in the top of fifth to seal the run rule for the Tigers.
 
Game Two
 
Raelin Chaffin (1-0) was credited with the win in the circle after tossing 4.1 innings where she struck out two batters. Berzon entered the game in the top of the fifth inning with the Tigers up 5-2. She went on to throw the remaining 1.2 innings and had one strikeout to secure the save.
 
Coffey, Petty, and Pleasants each registered two hits and Pleasants hit her second home run of the day in the bottom of the fifth. Newland drove in four runs including her three RBI homerun to round out the Tigers that finished with multiple RBIs.
 
The Tigers struck first in the opening inning thanks to Petty’s RBI single. Pleasants, Briggs, and Coffey scored runs in the second inning due to multiple errors by New Mexico, increasing LSU’s lead to 4-0.
 
The Lobos scored two runs in the top of the third. LSU walked in a run when Newland was hit by pitch with the bases loaded, giving LSU a 5-2 lead at the end of the fourth.
 
New Mexico plated one more run in the top of the fifth inning, but the Fighting Tigers blew the game open with five runs in the bottom half. Pleasants hit her second home run of the day that brought home two runs, and a few batters later, Newland’s three-run dinger put the Tigers ahead 10-3.
 
In the sixth inning, Raeleen Gutierrez hit a standup double and was pinch ran for by freshman Maia Townsend. Coffey came to the plate and sliced the ball through the left side to add the insurance run to seal the game.
 
ON DECK
 
LSU will conclude the LSU Invitational with two games Sunday. The Tigers will play at 12:30 p.m. against No. 19/25 Oregon State followed by a 3 p.m. matchup against Nicholls at Tiger Park.
 

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Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi

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