Alabama returned to the road after three home meets and promptly ran into a hungry Bengal Tiger in Baton Rouge Friday Night.  While their overall performance was excellent, it was not enough for Alabama to master LSU, who managed to stick the majority of their uneven bars dismounts enroute to a 196.925 to 196.525 victory.

As the visiting team, Alabama started off on the uneven bars, where sophomore Tiffany Byrd and freshman Shannon Hrozek both garnered scores of 9.725.  Junior Kristin Sterner had a beautiful routine going until she sat down her double front dismount (9.20).  The pressure was piled on senior Raegan Tomasek, but she responded with a very confident routine that was awarded a 9.800. Seniors Andree Pickens (9.90) and Natalie Barrington (9.875) performed their usual crackerjack maneuvers, helping the Tide safely avoid having to count a fall during this rotation.  However, Bama gave away critical tenths by not sticking their dismounts (exception: Pickens) and scored only a 49.025 on their signature event. 

Hoping to make up ground in a hurry, the Tide moved next to the vault, where sophomore Stephanie Kite performed a nice front pike (9.725) with slightly bent knees on the second salto and a hop forward on the landing, followed by Shannon Hrozek (9.775), who was scored conservatively despite excellent distance from the horse and a perfect landing.  Freshman Alexis Brion was prepared to debut her pike with a ½ twist but ended up tucking it mid-air and was automatically deducted for throwing the wrong vault along with execution errors, resulting in a final score of 9.45.  However, Coach Patterson was very pleased that Alexis vaulted and was reassuring her at the end of her run, perhaps reminding her that she did the right thing in adjusting her body when the vault did not feel right.  Sophomore Erin Holdefer was up next and threw one of her best front pike vaults of the young season for a 9.825.  Kristin Sterner nailed her pike ½ twist vault with excellent form and distance for a 9.875. Wrapping up this event, the ever-reliable Andree Pickens vaulted a flawless Yurchenko full for a 10.00.  Team score on vault was a 49.20, running score at this juncture was a 98.225.  LSU was leading by .2 due to some truly amazing scores on the uneven bars (49.550 team total on this event).

Ranked 2^nd nationally on the floor exercise, Alabama felt confident that they could move ahead of the Tigers, who were heading to the unpredictable balance beam in the third rotation.  Stephanie Kite set the table with what PBAs consider to be her best performance of the year and arguably deserved a higher score than the 9.825 posted. She was followed by the electrifying freshman, Michelle Reeser (9.90), who also had a flawless routine with great tumbling and dance-acro combinations.  Senior Raegan Tomasek did not hold back on the difficulty, throwing her double front Arabian but she suffered a fall when she under-rotated the final salto of this tricky skill (9.20).  Senior Alexa Martinez was placed in the pressure spot for this week and was able to muster only a 9.675 after stumbling on her super-difficult opening pass of a front through to a double twist (another skill with a blind landing).  Her dance and presentation (not to mention three more passes) were very impressive.  Alexis Brion once again showcased her international flair with a sky high double tuck, front handspring through to a front full to a front tuck, ending with a front handspring through to a front layout to a front tuck (9.925).  Kristin Sterner  (9.925) performed a perfect final routine that we could not find any obvious deductions on after reviewing the tape.   The Tide had a 49.25 on floor and a running score of 147.475 to LSU's 147.525.  Shannon Hrozek exhibited a beautiful routine and was awarded a 9.85 for her efforts.  Her only deduction likely came on the second pass (round off to whip full to front layout to front tuck), when she almost stepped out of bounds. 

Entering the fourth and final rotation, Bama was behind a mere .050 to the LSU Tigers, but they knew they would have to showcase five perfect routines to have a chance to overcome the momentum of the home team.  Raegan Tomasek met the challenge with a 9.825, followed by Tiffany Byrd's 9.70, and Natalie Barrington's 9.80. Unfortunately, Alexa Martinez struggled from the opening of her routine (had to repeat her flight series) and fell on her punch front, garnering only a 9.125.  To the rescue: Andree Pickens (9.90) and Kristin Sterner (9.875).  The latter routine was almost perfection, with an exclamation point provided by her double pike dismount (no movement on the landing).  Michelle Reeser exhibited on the beam and had some excellent difficulty: two-footed back handspring to a back handspring to a layout, switch leap to wolf jump to a Korbut (fish flop).  Team score on beam for the Tide: 49.10 and for the meet 196.575.  LSU scored a 49.40 on floor and finished with a 196.925.

LSU was no doubt inspired by the 30-minute opening tribute to Coach D-D Breaux for her 25 years of coaching at Baton Rouge and decided to honor her with their strongest performance of the year.  Seniors Beth Boudreaux (9.95), Sharene Mamby (9.95) and Marina Degteva (9.925) led the way on uneven bars with solid routines that were highlighted by stuck landings.  Rebecca Lightsey, impressed the judges enough to garner a 9.875 on the balance beam.  Freshmen Rachel Franzella and Lauren Companioni recorded scores of 9.925 on the floor to put the meet away on the final event.