BATON ROUGE — The fourth-ranked LSU Tiger softball team welcomes four teams to Baton Rouge this weekend as it opens the 2002 season with the Tiger Classic.
DePaul, Jackson State, Northwestern State and Western Michigan will all be at Tiger Park for the three-day event which begins Friday at Noon and ends with a championship game at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The tournament features round-robin play for the first two days before venturing into bracket play on Sunday. The Tigers first action comes on Friday’s at 2 p.m. against Jackson State before facing No. 19 DePaul at 6 p.m.
The Blue Demons have been to two of the past three Women’s College World Series’ and are considered a threat to return this season.
LSU reached its first WCWS last season in just its fifth year of softball. The Tigers wound up finishing tied for third in the nation.
“It has been a long preseason and the players have been practicing against each other for quite a while now,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “They are ready to get out on the field and begin playing.”
On Saturday, LSU will face Northwestern State and Western Michigan at 2 and 6 p.m., respectively.
This season, the Tigers will have one of the top pitching staffs in the nation as they return first-team All-American Britni Sneed while adding second-team All-American Kristen Schmidt to the roster.
Schmidt is a transfer from Notre Dame, where she earned Big East Rookie of the Year honors. Both Sneed and Schmidt finished among the nation’s top 10 in earned-run average a year ago.
“There is no question about this LSU team that the strength and nucleus and core of this team is the pitching staff,” said Girouard. “I think it is easy to see that our strength is in the circle. And in softball, that better be where your strength is.”
At the plate, the Tigers will rely heavily on Trena Peel, Christy Connor and Julie Wiese, each of which are returning from last season. Peel competed on the international level over the summer as a part of the US National team while Wiese tied the LSU home run record as a freshman last year (12).
Connor, a second-team All-SEC selection, returns as a threat to hit with power and average as she hit over .300 with 10 doubles and five home runs this past season.
LSU Tiger Classic
Feb. 8-10 Tiger Park
Friday, Feb. 8
Noon Western Michigan vs. Jackson State
2 p.m. LSU vs. Jackson State
4 p.m. Northwestern State vs. DePaul
6 p.m. DePaul vs. LSU8 p.m. Northwestern State vs. Western Michigan
Saturday, Feb. 9
10 a.m. Jackson State vs. DePaul
Noon Jackson State vs. Northwestern State
2 p.m. Northwestern State vs. LSU
4 p.m. DePaul vs. Western Michigan
6 p.m. Western Michigan vs. LSU
8 p.m. No. 5 seed vs. No. 4 seed
Sunday, Feb. 10
9 a.m. No. 1 seed vs. Saturday night winner
11 a.m. No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed
1 p.m. Championship Game