BATON ROUGE — After making its first trip to the Women’s College World Series, the LSU softball team will add the arm of second-team All American pitcher Kristin Schmidt to its arsenal for the 2002 softball season. Schmidt will transfer to LSU from Notre Dame.
“This is a win-win situation,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “Kristin will have three years of eligibility with the Tigers. As an All American, she could have picked 90 percent of the schools in the U.S. We are delighted that she picked us.”
As a freshman at Notre Dame, Schmidt helped the Fighting Irish to a record of 54-7 overall and a No. 11 final national ranking. The Irish came within a game of a trip to the Women’s College World Series. Schmidt completed the season as the Notre Dame’s top pitcher with a record of 27-3 in 34 appearances.
Schmidt compiled season stats that some pitchers only dream about earning her the honor of second team All American her rookie season. She had an earned run average of 0.55 and struck out 247 batters in 204 innings.
“After adding Kristin to the staff, we have two ace pitchers now that compliment each other very well. Kristin has spin, spin and more spin with lots of control, and Britni will just blow it by a batter. We will have a good-looking staff with these two, including incoming freshman Tessa Lynam, sophomore Sarah Meadors and redshirt freshman Leslie Barron.”
A native of Houston, Texas, she graduated from North Shore High School where she was a two- time high school All America honoree. Schmidt was also named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Athlete of the Year in her senior season and was honored with numerous other awards in high school.