BATON ROUGE, La. — The No. 7 ranked LSU Tiger softball team will compete against two top 25 teams this weekend at the Texas Invitational hosted by the University of Texas.
After shutting out its first five opponents at last weekend’s Tiger Classic, LSU (5-0) will face No. 2 Washington Friday at 1 p.m. The Tigers have seen the Huskies in action three times yet have failed to take a game from them. LSU first met Washington during its first trip to the NCAA Regionals in Seattle, Wa. The Tigers were the runner-up of the regional, second to the Huskies. LSU last saw Washington at the 1999 Lead-off Classic where the Huskies defeated them 4-2 in the final inning.
After facing Washington, LSU will meet No. 19 Texas at 7 p.m. The host Longhorns and the Tigers have never seen action against each other.
On Saturday, LSU faces South Florida at 10:00 a.m. in the last round of round-robin play before going into bracket play. This will be the first meeting between the Tigers and the Bulls.
“We are ready for the competition and feel that we are ready to make the adjustments necessary to face a top 25 team,” said head coach Glenn Moore. “The girls are focused and want to win this tournament.”
LSU began the season with a tremendous effort at the Tiger Classic with the pitching staff leading the way giving up only six hits the entire weekend.
Sophomore Britni Sneed led the staff with 22 strikeouts and only two hits in 12 innings. Sneed set an LSU single-game record against McNeese State with 13 strikeouts. She held the previous school record of 12 which she set last season against Bowling Green on March 11.
Tiger sophomore Trena Peel stepped over from right field to pitch and picked up the first win of her career. She pitched five innings giving up only one hit and struck out three batters. She was relieved in the top of the sixth by junior left fielder Dee Douglas, who also made her Tiger pitching debut. Douglas had two strikeouts and did not give up a run.
The Tiger bats were on fire as LSU had 39 hits as a team, outscoring their opponents 26-0. LSU was led in hitting by senior All-American Ashlee Ducote. She hit .583 for the weekend with seven hits, three runs, three doubles, one triple and four RBI. She hit a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning against Ohio State to give her the 14th home run of her career, two shy of the LSU school career record held by Tyra Perry.
Junior second baseman Stephanie Hastings also came across with the bat for the Tigers. Hastings was responsible for two hits that scored three of the Tigers four runs in the final game against Ohio State. Hastings hit .500 with six hits, one double, one home run and eight RBI. She scored six runs for the Tigers.
After participating in the Texas Invitational, the Tigers will host the Purple and Gold challenge at Tiger Park on February 25-27.