BATON ROUGE — Junior Julie Wiese was named the Southeastern Conference and Louisiana Sports Writer’s Association Hitter of the Week as the seventh-ranked Tigers prepare to host Northwestern State in a doubleheader on Wednesday beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Tiger Park.
After hitting just two home runs last season, Wiese, a third baseman from Baton Rouge, hit four home runs in five games last weekend for LSU. She recorded a .412 average (7-for-17) and posted a double for a 1.176 slugging percentage. She also tallied eight RBIs and four runs scored.
In a 12-0 win over Cal Poly, she tied the LSU record with two home runs and led the team with four RBIs. Wiese then followed that with home runs in games against Utah and Central Michigan. With 18 career home runs, she moved into fourth place in LSU history in career home runs, just one shy of former Tiger All-American Trena Peel in third place.
Coming off a 4-1 record at the UNLV Softball Classic last weekend, the Tigers (7-3) host the Demons (0-2) for the 18th time in seven years. Although LSU has never lost in its previous 17 meetings with NSU, the last six meetings have been decided by two runs or less. Last year, the Tigers posted a 5-0 mark against Northwestern State, including a 3-2 extra-inning decision in NCAA Regional play.
“It’s good to be back home,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We have a healthy respect for Northwestern. They always come in here prepared to battle for seven innings or more. They are a quality opponent and we know that we will have to execute our game plan to be successful.”
At the UNLV Classic, Kristin Schmidt and Tessa Lynam combined to pitch a no-hitter against Cal Poly. It was the second no-hitter of the season for Schmidt, who also hurled a no-no against Baylor in her first start of the year. In five games, the pair allowed just three earned runs in 35 innings with 35 strikeouts.
In addition to outstanding pitching, the Tiger bats also came alive. LSU had four players hit for over .300 for the weekend, led by Wiese’s .412. Sara Fitzgerald followed with a .353 average with four doubles, four RBIs and her first collegiate home run. Christy Connor hit at a .333 clip with three home runs and four RBIs. Camille Harris rounded out the quartet with a .308 average, including three RBIs and her first collegiate home run.
In total, the Tigers hit nine home runs in five games, including a school-record five against Cal Poly. LSU also recorded seven doubles, including the four by Fitzgerald. For the weekend, the Tigers recorded a .242 average while limiting opponents, including No. 1-ranked UCLA, to a .181 average.
Northwestern State is coming off a doubleheader defeat at Southern Miss last week, 5-4 and 4-2. The Demons are led by Nicole Martin with a .571 average (4-for-7) and a triple.
Following the doubleheader, LSU will travel to Columbus, Ga., for the NFCA Leadoff Classic this weekend. There the Tigers will face a rematch with No. 10 Cal State Fullerton, which LSU defeated 4-3 at the UNLV Softball Classic. The Tigers will also take on No. 4 Oklahoma and Villanova in pool play before bracket play begins on Saturday afternoon.