LSU Athletics
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Tori Edwards’ 100th career hit and 12th home run of the season in the sixth inning proved to be the game-winning blow as No. 20/15 LSU avoided the sweep and ended the weekend with a 5-3 victory over No. 17/19 Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon at Nusz Park.
With the win, LSU (33-16, 10-11 SEC) will enter the final week of the regular season ninth in the SEC standings. Mississippi State (36-15, 8-13 SEC) is behind the Tigers at No. 10. Seeds 5-9 will get a first-round bye in the 2026 SEC Tournament that will be held in Lexington, Ky., on May 5-9.
Paytn Monticelli, the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, pitched 7.0 innings in relief to grab her fourth consecutive win and improve to 7-3 on the season. Monticelli had a stretch of sitting down eight consecutive batters, highlighting back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth innings. For her final line, the senior allowed one run on two hits, walked one batter, and struck out two.
Kylee Edwards led the offense with another two-hit game (2-for-3) and had two RBI on her 10th home run of the season. She also scored two runs to lead the team. T. Edwards hit a two-run dinger as well, marking the fifth game this season where K. Edwards and T. Edwards have homered in the same game.
MSU’s Peja Goold is charged with the loss after 2.2 innings of work, where she allowed three hits, two runs, walked one, and struck out two.
The clubs exchanged two-run homers in the first inning for a 2-2 tie. K. Edwards hit her 10th longball of the season for LSU, and MSU’s Nadia Barbary responded with a two-run shot of her own in the home half.
The defenses settled in after the home runs. LSU turned double plays in the first and second innings, and after Franklin’s RBI single in the third, the Tigers caged the Bulldogs with a shutdown inning capped by Monticelli’s first strikeout, ending the third with an LSU 3-2 advantage.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases in the fifth with no outs but plated just one run to tie the game before LSU turned its third double play of the game, tying a program single-game record.
In the sixth, K. Edwards led off the inning with a single to the shortstop, and T. Edwards took the pitcher deep to center field, driving in two runs to reestablish a 5-3 margin, and LSU registered its third three-up and three-down inning in the seventh to end the game.
**LSU PRESS RELEASE**
