LSU head coach Beth Torina commends pitcher Kelley Lynch for response after Missouri takes 1-0 lead

After giving up a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd inning — the lone run of the game to that point — in an SEC Tournament semifinal against Missouri, LSU pitcher Kelley Lynch came back with a vengeance. The next two batters fell victim to strikeouts, swinging and then looking.

After the Tigers starter finished out the bottom of the inning with some authority, blitzing the zone with power pitches and painting the outside corner for the final strike, head coach Beth Torina commended the response from her starter.

“That was cool, try to have an answer for something like that when it doesn’t go your way,” Torina said to ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “She’s a great competitor. She’s like ice out there. Never any emotion, just keeps us in every ball game, so it was a cool answer, I thought.”

With her squad coming up to bat, Torina was hopeful to see the offensive breakthrough for her squad in the middle phases of the game.

“I think our offense needs to bring some energy,” Torina said. “Run this, run that and we’re right back in it. So I think that will kind of give us the energy if we can put some big swings on some pitches right now.”

However, the Tigers went down in order in the top of the 4th inning, sending Lynch back out to keep Missouri in check.

Missouri head coach Larissa Anderson broke down the approach she wants from her hitters

On the back of a solo home run from Maddie Gallagher, Missouri had gotten out to a short-lived lead over LSU in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday. But facing LSU’s Kelley Lynch in the circle, Missouri head coach Larissa Anderson knows they’ll likely need to be shrewd to plate a few more runs.

In a brief interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe, Anderson shared that she wants her players to be smart and selective in the box. With Lynch’s ability to come after hitters with power pitching, Anderson wants her hitters to narrow down what part of the zone they want pitches to hit.

“Have a plan,” Anderson said. “We can’t look for everything and try to hit everything. We’ve gotta really zone in and maybe cut the plate in half, either vertically or horizontally.”

The Missouri offense will need to come through again for them to get a win and advance to the SEC tourney championship game after LSU knotted the score at 1-1 in the 5th inning.

But a bit of relief might have come for Missouri, as LSU went to the bullpen and inserted Sydney Berzon in the circle in the bottom of the 5th inning.