BATON ROUGE — The fourth-ranked LSU softball team returns home on Wednesday to take on in-state rival Nicholls State at 6:30 p.m. at Tiger Park.
The Tigers (8-3) are coming off a 3-2 weekend at the UNLV Invitational, where they posted a win over No. 12 Nebraska but fell to No. 2 UCLA and No. 5 Cal.
The game against the Lady Colonels (2-4) will keep LSU tuned up as it heads into play at the NFCA LeadOff Classic, one of the premier tournaments in the nation, on Friday.
Nicholls State has squared off with the Tigers four times since LSU reinstated softball in 1997, with the Tigers owning a 3-1 mark. Last season, LSU swept a doubleheader against the Lady Colonels.
“Nicholls is a team that has begun to play better as of late,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “They have always played well against us in the past and I expect them to do so again. Anytime we play a team from Louisiana, emotions run high and anything can happen.”
Christy Connor and Trena Peel will lead the Tigers offense as the pair is hitting .393 and .441, respectively. Connor, who leads LSU with 11 RBIs, went 9-for-14 last weekend with two home runs and nine RBIs.
Peel has been a staple of consistency as she hit .375 in the opening weekend of the season and improved her average the past weekend.
“We know we can hit,” Girouard said. “We know we have hitters. It is just a matter of going out there and swinging the bat with some confidence.”
Kristin Schmidt leads the pitching staff with a 3-1 record and a 0.89 ERA.
She has 42 strikeouts in just 31 1/3 innings of work.
Phyllis Guedry, the first-year head coach at Nicholls, has Tiger ties as she was an assistant at LSU under coach Cathy Compton in 1997 and 1998.
The Lady Colonel offense is paced by Jen Paray, who is batting .300 on the season.