BATON ROUGE — Seniors Sara Fitzgerald and Julie Wiese have been selected as the team captains for the 2004 LSU softball team, it was announced by head coach Yvette Girouard on Monday.
Fitzgerald and Wiese are both three-year letterwinners for the Tigers and were members of LSU’s 2001 Women’s College World Series team. The pair have been a part of two SEC Championship teams and two SEC Tournament Championship teams in three seasons at LSU.
“I believe that Sara and Julie will be fantastic representatives of our program,” said Girouard. “They will be tremendous leaders for our players.”
The team leader in hits in 2003, Fitzgerald returns for her senior season after her most productive year as a Tiger. The second baseman ranked eighth in the Southeastern Conference in runs scored and tied the third longest hitting streak in LSU history, hitting safely in 12 consecutive games a year ago. In addition, the Kingwood, Texas, native ranked in the top three on the team in RBIs, doubles, triples and stolen bases in 2003.
A second-team All-Louisiana selection last season, Wiese returns as the LSU career record holder for walks and ranks second in career home runs. The two-time SEC and Louisiana Hitter of the Week led the team and tied for fourth in the SEC in doubles last year and ranked second in the team in home runs and walks.
In addition, she ranked third on the team in RBIs and runs scored and fourth in hits. Against Cal Poly and Southeastern Louisiana, she tied the school record for home runs in a game with two. She currently ranks in the top 10 in career hit by pitches, doubles and RBIs in Tiger softball history and was a member of the 2001 Women’s College World Series All-Tournament team.
LSU will begin the 2004 season with the Tiger Classic from Feb. 6-8 at Tiger Park. The Tigers will begin play against Centenary at 2 p.m. on Feb. 6. LSU will also take on Oklahoma Illinois and Southeastern Louisiana in the three-day tournament.