It took just under two hours before mighty LSU showed Lake Charles its stuff.

For the first 112 minutes of Tuesday night’s battle at Joe Miller Ballpark, a young McNeese State team was making the No. 3 Tigers look pedestrian.

Then, after an eight-minute umpire review, everything changed.

Two pitches after not getting a hit-batter call, freshman Tori Edwards blasted a 3-run homer into the night. LSU went on to score six times in the top of the sixth to beat the Cowgirls 12-2 in front of a sellout crowd of 1,459. 

“For five innings we played pretty good softball,” said McNeese head coach James Landreneau. “We want to be on this stage so we have to take the good with the bad.”

Edwards’ blast was her 13th of the season as she also leads the Tigers with 52 runs batted in. Her hit came on a 3-2 pitch from McNeese freshman reliever Maddie Taylor.

Maddox McKee followed with a 2-run shot pushed over the fence in left-center by the wind to seal the outcome. It was McKee’s first homer of the year.

McKenzie Redoutey hit a 3-run homer herself in the seventh for good measure. It was Redoutey’s second home run of the season as the Tigers scored six more in the frame.

The win snapped LSU’s two-game losing streak, improving its record to 32-4. The Cowgirls fell to 23-16.

McNeese took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth on Rylie Bouvier’s 2-run single to right with the bases loaded. That set up a first and third, which seemed to work when the Cowgirls tried a double steal.

While Reese Reyna was safe at home, a video review showed Bouvier left first early on the front end, killing the play. The Cowgirls lost a run on the overturned ruling.

The next review changed everything.

With runners on first and second and one out in the sixth, Edwards claimed she was hit on the elbow by a pitch from newly inserted Taylor. A long review followed. When play finally resumed Edwards was sent back to the plate where she did her damage. 

“I hope there was an internet issue or something,” said Landreneau. “If you have to look that long to find anything, you might be looking for something.”

Despite only picking up three hits off LSU hurler Jayden Heavener, who improved to 10-2 by going the distance, the Cowgirls had their chances. Heavener walked nine as McNeese left 10 runners on base.

“We had our chances and could not get the big hit,” said Landreneau. “We had every opportunity to score runs early and didn’t.”

Meanwhile, McNeese starter Kadence Williams, another freshman, threw 5⅓ impressive innings before getting tired. Taylor (9-7) took the loss.

LSU had just two hits through the first five innings but had 12 over the last two.

McNeese will be back in action when they meet Southeastern in Hammond over the weekend. The 3-game series is a showdown between the top two teams in the Southland Conference, with the Cowgirls trailing the Lions by two games.