Junior Lauren Castle is hitting .389 on the season with a pair or triples.
LSU Sports Interactive
BATON ROUGE — After a disappointing start to Southeastern Conference play, the 25th-ranked LSU softball team looks to get back on track as they take on Mississippi State in a mid-week series at the Bulldog Diamond in Starkville, Miss., beginning with a doubleheader on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
Both games can be heard on the LSU Sports Network in Baton Rouge on Country Legends 107.3 FM. Both the radio broadcast and live statistics can be accessed on the official website for LSU athletics, www.LSUsports.net.
The Tigers (17-11, 1-8 SEC) started league play against two nationally ranked teams and one that was receiving votes in the poll. Over the last three weeks, including two road series, LSU competed against teams that have a combined 26-8 SEC record. Alabama (9-3 SEC) and Georgia (12-0 SEC) were picked to battle for the SEC Championship and selected by the coaches in the preseason to win their respective divisions.
The Tigers’ next four league series – at Mississippi State, vs. Arkansas, vs. Kentucky and vs. Ole Miss – are against four teams which do not currently have winning records in conference play and are a combined 7-25 in SEC action this year.
“We have had a lot of adversity this year,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “Our pitchers haven’t been healthy and we haven’t played that well. We have a hole in our ship right now and just need to figure out how to sail without sinking. This series is just another opportunity for us to make a step in the positive direction.”
The Bulldogs enter the mid-week series at 21-15 overall and 3-6 in conference play after sweeping Kentucky last weekend at home. Mississippi State had to put together a pair of rallies in the series, coming back from a 1-0 deficit in the first game before rallying to complete the sweep, 3-2, after trailing 2-0 in the sixth. The Bulldogs easily won the second game, 5-0.
Freshman Quinlan Duhon leads the Tigers in batting average, swinging away at a .395 clip, while also posting a team-best seven home runs. Junior Lauren Castle is hitting .389 on the season with a pair or triples. Freshman Vanessa Soto is hitting .359 with a team-best 12 doubles and 29 RBIs.
As a team, LSU is hitting .318 on the season with 54 doubles, six triples and 23 home runs. The Tigers have recorded the second-best slugging percentage in the conference at .503.
Sophomore Emily Turner is the ace of the LSU pitching staff. With an 8-6 record, she has made 18 appearances with a 2.48 earned run average, two shutouts and 90 strikeouts while opponents hit just .190 against her. The Tigers, as a team, have recorded a 2.73 ERA with seven shutouts and a .209 batting average against.
Courtney Bures leads Mississippi State with a .408 batting average, eight doubles, five triples, 10 home runs and 37 RBIs. As a team, the Bulldogs are batting .294 with 49 doubles, 11 triples and 27 home runs.
In the circle, Mississippi State is led by Stephanie Comeaux with a 7-5 record and a 2.33 earned run average. She has recorded 64 strikeouts in 78 innings with four combined shutouts. The Bulldogs