OXFORD, Miss. - Freshman pitcher Sydney Berzon tossed a three-hit shutout Saturday night as No. 12 LSU (25-6, 3-5 SEC) evened the series with a 2-0 win versus Ole Miss (19-13, 1-4 SEC) at the Ole Miss Softball Complex.

"It was a really good job by our offense to jump out on top and score in the first inning," said Head Coach Beth Torina. "I thought that set the tone for the entire game. We had a really good performance from Sydney Berzon. It was a much needed performance, but was also something she worked really hard for, so it was awesome to see her execute a really good gameplan."

Berzon (8-2) collected her third shutout of the season and threw a career high 10 strikeouts and walked two batters in the complete game victory.

Graduate infielder Karli Petty highlighted the offense with a 1-for-3 day at the plate with a triple and run scored. Junior infielder Danieca Coffey also had a one-hit, one-run performance while junior outfielder Ali Newland and junior infielder Raeleen Gutierrez each tacked on an RBI.

Ole Miss pitcher Aynslie Furbush (7-5) was charged with the loss. She threw three strikeouts and allowed two runs on four hits in 6.2 innings.

The Tigers found themselves with runners on the corners with one out in the first inning after Coffey and junior outfielder Ciara Briggs singled and graduate Georgia Clark reached on a fielder's choice. Newland came to the dish and logged a RBI sac fly to left field to give LSU the early 1-0 advantage.

Berzon went on a tear, retiring 10 consecutive batters from the end of the first until the bottom of the fifth frame as the score remained 1-0 through five. The Rebels threatened with runners on first and third in the sixth, but Berzon delivered with her 10th strikeout of the game to end the inning.

Petty led off the seventh stanza with her first triple of the season to set up another sacrifice fly off of Gutierrez's bat to increase the lead, 2-0.

Berzon retired four of the final five batters of the night to secure the 2-0 victory for the Tigers.

ON DECK

LSU and Ole Miss will play for the series win at 1 p.m. Sunday.