By Tiger Rag News Services
BATON ROUGE — LSU waited nearly four hours to start Thursday night. Once the Tigers finally got on the field, Paytn Monticelli made sure Auburn waited all night for a run that never came.
No. 20 LSU beat Auburn 3-0 at Tiger Park in the opener of the final SEC series of the regular season, riding Monticelli’s complete-game shutout and a three-run second inning built on pressure, contact and Auburn mistakes.
The game originally had been moved up to a 4 p.m. start because of weather concerns, but lightning and rain pushed first pitch deep into the night. The delay did not bother Monticelli, who improved to 8-3 and continued her late-season surge in LSU’s pitching staff.
Auburn starter Ella Harrison took the loss and fell to 11-13. Auburn dropped to 25-25 overall and 4-18 in the SEC, while LSU improved to 35-16 and 11-11 in conference play.
LSU did all of its scoring in the second inning, and it did not need a home run to do it.
Char Lorenz started the inning by reaching base, and Ally Hutchins followed to put immediate pressure on Auburn. Avery Hodge then reached on a sacrifice bunt and throwing error by Auburn’s third baseman, allowing Lorenz to score the game’s first run. Hutchins advanced to third and Hodge moved to second on the play.
Jalia Lassiter followed with an RBI single to shortstop, scoring Hutchins and pushing LSU’s lead to 2-0. Later in the inning, Alix Franklin reached on a fielder’s choice that brought Hodge home with LSU’s third run. Hodge’s run was unearned, but the inning belonged to LSU because the Tigers forced Auburn to defend movement, bunts and contact after sitting through a long weather delay.
That was enough for Monticelli.
Auburn finished with four hits and stranded six runners, but Monticelli never allowed the big inning. She worked through traffic, kept Auburn off the scoreboard and closed the game by striking out D. Wilson swinging on an 0-2 pitch.
LSU finished with six hits and stranded eight runners, so the night was not an offensive clinic. The Tigers had early traffic, including three hits through the first inning-plus, but did not fully separate. Still, with Monticelli controlling the circle, LSU’s second-inning burst stood up.
The shutout was LSU’s ninth of the season and continued a strong recent stretch for Monticelli, who entered the Auburn series coming off SEC Pitcher of the Week honors after winning all three games of LSU’s sweep of Ole Miss in relief.
The result mattered beyond one night. LSU entered the final regular-season weekend trying to protect its SEC Tournament positioning and avoid giving away a home series against one of the league’s struggling teams. The Tigers came in with the No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament picture, with seeds five through nine receiving a first-round bye.
LSU also entered the series ranked No. 11 in the RPI with the No. 3 strength of schedule nationally, making every late regular-season win important for NCAA Tournament seeding and hosting conversation.
The Tigers and Auburn continue the series Friday at Tiger Park before closing the regular season Saturday.
Final line score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R-H-E |
| Auburn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-4-3 |
| LSU | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3-6-1 |
WP: Paytn Monticelli (8-3). LP: Ella Harrison (11-13).
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