LSU Athletics
BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 19/17 LSU exploded for a six-run third inning and cruised to a 9-0 victory in five innings against Michigan State to open the 2026 Purple & Gold Challenge Friday night at Tiger Park.
LSU secured its third run-rule shutout of the season, moving to 9-4. Michigan State falls to 6-5 after two losses on day one of the Purple & Gold Challenge.
“I thought it was a solid day,” said Head Coach Beth Torina. “I thought we did a lot of things well. Putting up nine runs against a good arm, against a team that’s beaten ranked opponents, and I thought Jayden Heavener just kept us in it the whole time, followed by some solid defense behind her.”
In the circle, Heavener (3-2) achieved her seventh career shutout and second this season, notching four strikeouts, giving up three hits, and four walks. The victory marked her fourth complete game of the 2026 campaign and 15th of her career.
At the plate, junior second baseman Sierra Daniel went 3-for-4, matching her career-high in hits for the second time this season, and scoring one run with one RBI. Neither senior outfielder Alix Franklin nor junior outfielder Jalia Lassiter were retired during the game. Franklin compiled a 1-for-1 line with an RBI, drawing two walks, while Lassiter finished 1-for-1 with two RBI—her 15th multi-RBI outing as a Tiger—and was hit by a pitch twice for the second time this year.
Michigan State’s pitcher Jacey Schuler suffered her first loss of the season, dropping to 2-1 in the circle. Schuler had three strikeouts and gave up six runs on four hits and walked four batters in 2.1 innings.
The Tigers set the tone as the leadoff batter reached in every inning, singling once and drawing three walks. LSU jumped ahead 2-0 after the first two frames. Lassiter stretched her hitting streak to nine games with a leadoff single in the first, and Franklin drove her in with a two-out single to seize an early lead. In the second inning, the Tigers tacked on another run as Daniel slashed an RBI single to left field to bring home outfielder Char Lorenz, who opened the inning with a walk.
After Michigan State left the bases loaded in the top of the third, LSU capitalized with six runs on two hits and two MSU errors to build an 8-0 lead. lead. The inning was capped with a run-scoring single by catcher Maci Bergeron.
With Franklin reaching base on balls for a second time, third baseman Ally Hutchins was hit by a pitch, and Lorenz singled to load the bases with no outs. Two batters later, Lassiter wore her second pitch of the game to extend LSU’s lead to 9-0.
Heavener closed the game, retiring three of the final four batters she faced, highlighted by a swinging strikeout to seal the run-rule victory.
Up Next
The Purple & Gold Challenge continues with LSU taking on UL Lafayette at 4 p.m. CT, followed by its rematch against Michigan State at 6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
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