Inside The Park Grand Slam Lifts No. 22 LSU Softball Over Ole Miss, 6-4

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BATON ROUGE, La. – Tori Edwards hit an inside-the-park grand slam in the sixth inning, capping the rally of the season as No. 22/17 LSU captures the series opener with a 6-4 win over Ole Miss on Friday night at Tiger Park.

T. Edwards recorded the program’s first inside-the-park home run since 2021, when Raleen Gutierrez did it at Southeastern Louisiana (March 16, 2021). It was T. Edwards’ fifth career grand slam after setting the program record with four last season. The redshirt sophomore was 2-for-3 at the plate against Ole Miss, scored one run, and matched a season-high four RBI, marking her 25th career multi-RBI game.

The late-inning rally that featured five runs on four hits in the sixth improves LSU’s record to 30-14 overall and 7-9 in the SEC. Ole Miss falls to 27-19 and 2-14 in league play.

“I think we executed the game plan beautifully,” said Head Coach Beth Torina. “The game plan was to have some patience and to wait for that one big swing. We actually got one in the fifth from Sierra Daniel, but the ball just happened to go right to somebody. Our players did exactly what we asked them to do. We wanted to flood the bases, be patient, and still be aggressive at the right moments. I thought they did exactly that. We told them before the game that this is exactly how Ole Miss’s games play out. They do a really good job of staying in ball games. They did just that today.”

LSU totaled eight hits in the game, and all six of its runs came with two outs. The Fighting Tigers also matched their season-high of 11 walks for the fourth time this season. Kylee Edwards recorded two hits (2-for-3), including her ninth home run of the season, and scored a game-high two runs. She also finished with two RBI. Jalia Lassiter, who also contributed a hit, and Char Lorenz led the team with three walks each.

Paytn Monticelli (4-3) earned the win in the circle after 2.0 innings in relief, where she struck out one batter and gave up two hits. Jayden Heavener picked up her second save of the season after striking out the two batters she faced in the seventh to slam the door. Cece Cellura started the game and pitched 4.1 innings. Cellura had a strikeout and allowed three earned runs on five hits.

Emilee Boyer (9-9) received the loss for Ole Miss. In 6.0 innings, Boyer surrendered eight hits, six runs, and 11 walks. She finished the game with five strikeouts.

LSU got on the board in the first with a two-out solo shot that stayed fair down the left field line by K. Edwards, putting the Tigers ahead, 1-0. Ole Miss tied the game immediately in the second, however, with a Madi George leadoff homer to left center field.

After a couple of scoreless innings, the Rebels plated three runs, including a two-run homer from Persy Llamas to take a 4-1 advantage through five frames.

In the sixth, LSU broke the game open with a five-run inning on four hits, sparked by a run-scoring single from K. Edwards with runners on the corners. After Alix Franklin loaded the bases with a single to center field, T. Edward roped a 1-0 pitch down the right line that got past the diving right fielder and made it a round-tripper, beating the throw home to give LSU the 6-4 lead.

Ole Miss opened the seventh with back-to-back singles, before a foul out to the first baseman gave LSU its first out. Coach Torina inserted Heavener for the save situation, and she delivered by striking out both George and Llamas, who both homered earlier in the game.

Up Next
Game two of the series is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT on Saturday.

(Release via LSU Athletics)