COLUMBIA, S.C. — The eighth-ranked LSU softball team travels to Columbia, S.C., for a three-game Southeastern Conference series with No. 14 South Carolina beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon CST.
The doubleheader will be broadcast live on the LSU Sports Network in Baton Rouge on WJHN, Jam’n 107.3 FM or on the internet at www.LSUsports.net.
The Tigers (19-6, 2-1 SEC) have won nine of their last 11 games including five shutout victories. The Gamecocks (18-6, 2-1 SEC) have posted four-straight wins and have won 11 of their last 12 games.
“We are going in to play a very good South Carolina team,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We have our work cut out for us. We need to put a series together where we play Tiger softball for three games. We need to play our type of game for an entire series.”
Since LSU reinstated its softball program in 1997, the Tigers have posted an 11-6 record against South Carolina, including a 5-2 record in Columbia.
LSU has now posted five consecutive shutouts victories over the Gamecocks, each while South Carolina was ranked in the Top 25 nationally. The Tigers have not allowed a run since a 3-2 loss on March 24, 2001.
The three-game series shutout of South Carolina last season marked the first time in school history that LSU held a conference opponent scoreless in a three-game series. The Tigers went on to accomplish that feat three times in 2002.
In the circle, the Tigers are led by SEC Pitcher of the Week Kristin Schmidt. The junior from Houston has an 11-5 record on the season with a 0.68 earned run average. Earlier in the week, she matched her career high with 14 strikeouts in a 5-3 nine-inning win over Nicholls State.
Sophomore Tessa Lynam has proven to be a catalyst for the Tigers at the plate since entering the offensive lineup 10 games ago. In those 10 games, she has recorded a .367 batting average with four doubles, 10 runs scored and 13 RBIs. She leads the SEC in on-base percentage at .500 since recovering from a broken hand suffered in the preseason.
Lynam has also been a significant force for LSU in the circle this season. She has posted eight wins against only one loss with a 1.43 ERA and 73 strikeouts.
Junior LaDonia Hughes has made her impact since joining the Tigers this season. The outfielder has hit .313 with a team-best 26 hits, 21 runs scored and 10 stolen bases. She ranks in the top 10 in the league in both runs scored and stolen bases.
Four times this year, Hughes has recorded three hits in a game, one shy of the LSU single-game record. She is also getting the job done on the base paths, scoring 21 of the 37 times she has been on base this season.
South Carolina is led by Amber Curtis with a .419 batting average. The junior has recorded four doubles, 10 RBIs and leads the team with 17 runs scored. Freshman Melanie Henkes has posted a 10-1 record for the Gamecocks with a 2.19 ERA, while Stacey Johnson leads the team with a 1.51 ERA and a 7-4 overall record.
The final game of the three-game series will be played on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. It will be televised live by FoxSports Southwest in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37. The game will also be broadcast on the LSU Sports Network on WJHN, Jam’n 107.3 FM.