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Baton Rouge, LA -- The LIU Brooklyn softball team battled the No. 10 team in the country to a 2-2 deadlock through 3 1/2 innings, but a number of defensive miscues marred a valiant pitching performance from sophomore Erynn Sobieski as the No. 10 Tigers came away with a 10-2 win on Friday evening.

The Blackbirds threatened early in the top of the first, as senior Whitney West led off with a bunt base hit. Two batters later, sophomore Victoria Zamora was hit by a pitch to put a pair on with one out, but LSU starter Sydney Smith worked out of trouble to keep LIU off the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the first, the Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out as Sandra Simmons doubled, Bailey Landry singled and Bianka Bell walked. Sobieski limited the damage to just one run, however, getting a big strikeout of Sahvanna Jaquish in the process.

With the margin still 1-0 in the third, an error on the Blackbirds allowed LSU's second run to come around to score to double the home team's lead going to the top of the fourth inning.

Zamora led off the frame with a walk, and senior Celinna Cosio lined a single off of Smith's glove to put a pair on with nobody out. Two batters later, sophomore Angie Vazquez unloaded on a rise ball and nearly gave the Blackbirds the lead, as her blast hit the base of the wall in left field.

The RBI double trimmed LIU's margin to 2-1 and forced LSU to make a pitching change, bringing in ace Carley Hoover. With two runners in scoring position, a strikeout brought junior Kayla Gloady to the plate and she delivered with an infield single up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.

LSU came right back in the bottom of the frame with two runs, as Simmons led off with a triple to right-centerfield and scored on a bloop hit from Bell in which she was jammed by a pitch from Sobieski. A double from Jaquish plated another run before a nice play from freshman Evie Claussell on a line drive started an inning-ending double play.

West led off the top of the fifth with another infield hit and moved to second on a throwing error as the Blackbirds continued to fight their nationally-ranked opponent. The second team all-region selection moved to third base but was stranded as Hoover struck out the final batter of the frame.

The Tigers tacked on a run in the fifth as Allie Walljasper golfed a low pitch from Sobieski over the left-field wall to put the score at 5-2. From there, another error on LIU Brooklyn and two more defensive mistakes led to five runs from the Tigers to enforce the run rule in the sixth.

LIU Brooklyn (30-26) will face No. 3 seeded Arizona State in an elimination game on Saturday, May 21 at Tiger Park. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CT.