LSU's Shelbi Sunseri: 'My heart is aching' after shootings at her former high school
BATON ROUGE - For a couple of hours late Friday night, LSU freshman Shelbi Sunseri might have been able to momentarily get her mind off the tragedy in her hometown of Santa Fe, Texas, near Houston.
On Friday morning, 10 people were killed and 10 others injured at her Santa Fe High School in a school shooting.
Last year, Sunseri made the All-Greater Houston area team after hitting .541 as a senior with 10 home runs while compiling a 24-4 record and 1.21 ERA as a pitcher with 215 strikeouts in 155 innings for Santa Fe High.
"My heart is aching for my hometown today," Sunseri tweeted before LSU's 9-0 win against Fordham in the NCAA Regional at Tiger Park Friday night.
She wore Santa Fe High's green and gold colors with black trim in a large ribbon in her hair for the game Friday and again Saturday afternoon when LSU defeated Houston 1-0 to advance to the championship round.
"Words can't describe the pain anyone is feeling. I hope we continue to remember that God is good even in this difficult time," Sunseri tweeted.
Sunseri hit a solo home run in the third inning Friday for a 7-0 lead and to tie for the team lead with seven home runs. She also singled to lead off LSU's five-run second inning for a 6-0 lead and finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored.
The game was called after five innings instead of the customary seven because of the mercy rule. Sunseri went 0-for-2 in LSU's 1-0 win Saturday against Houston. The Tigers' only run came in the fifth inning on a RBI double by Amber Serrett.
Sunseri was not available for interviews after either game for obvious reasons. LSU coach Beth Torina said she and Sunseri never considered Sunseri not playing this weekend because of the tragedy at Santa Fe High.
"Probably having the job to do tonight helped get her mind off of it a little bit," Torina said. "So, I think it was a good day for us to be playing softball."
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LSU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning Friday when Aliyah Andrews singled to lead off, stole second and later scored when Shemiah Sanchez reached on an error. The Tigers made it 6-0 in the second with five runs as another run scored on an error, another one on a sacrifice fly by Andrews, two more on a two-run double Emily Griggs and the last one on a RBI single by Amanda Doyle.
The Tigers stretched it to 7-0 in the third on Sunseri's home run. LSU added two more in the fourth for the 9-0 final on another earned run and an Amanda Doyle RBI single.
Torina was impressed with how Sunseri handled herself throughout the day and night.
"Yeah, I think she could have acted very differently," Torina said. "But instead she just really tried to stay focused on her job at hand. I know she's very emotional about it and very concerned, but I think she understood she had a job to do today. And she was able to stay focused on it."