BATON ROUGE — Riding a seven-game winning streak, the 12th-ranked LSU softball team hosts a final non-Southeastern Conference game against in-state rival Nicholls State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park.
The game can be heard in Baton Rouge on Country Legends 107.3 FM. This is the first broadcast of the season for the LSU Sports Network.
The Tigers (15-3) swept through the Purple & Gold Challenge last weekend, posting four run-rule wins in six games. The Colonels (4-9) went 1-2 against Texas-Arlington last weekend to open Southland Conference play, but have won four of their last six games, including a 1-0 win over No. 6 UL-Lafayette.
“This is the last time for us to tune-up before the always difficult SEC schedule,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We are looking for a good performance to springboard us into conference play.”
Girouard is now just four wins shy of becoming one of five coaches in NCAA Division I history to record 1,000 career victories. With 996 career wins, she ranks fifth all-time in Division I history, while also posting the fifth-best winning percentage in Division I history.
Junior Lauren Castle was named the Purple & Gold Challenge Most Valuable Player, while pitcher Emily Turner, first baseman Stephanie Hill, catcher Killian Roessner and outfielders Quinlan Duhon, Camille Harris and Leslie Klein all earned all-tournament honors for LSU.
Castle hit .545 on the weekend with two doubles, a triple, a home run and eight RBIs for a .864 slugging percentage. As a team, the Tigers hit .422 over the six games with 18 doubles, four triples and four home runs with 47 RBIs for a .686 slugging percentage. LSU is currently batting .367 on the season with 40 doubles, four triples and 18 home runs for a team .582 slugging percentage.
In the circle, Turner leads the Tigers with a 7-1 record and 1.48 earned run average. She has posted a pair of shutout victories and not allowed more than two hits in four of her previous five outings, while averaging over eight strikeouts a game. As a team, LSU has a 1.75 ERA on the season with seven shutouts, while holding opponents to a meager .162 batting average.
Lindsey Yelverton leads Nicholls with a .372 batting average with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBIs. As a team, the Colonels are hitting .239 on the season with 13 doubles, one triple and seven home runs. In the circle, Nichole Wagner leads Nicholls with a 2.16 earned run average and a 4-3 record. The senior has recorded all four wins for the Colonels with one shutout and 22 strikeouts in 10 appearances. As a team, Nicholls has posted a 4.64 earned run average with one shutout and 46 strikeouts in 86 innings of work.
LSU is 9-1 all-time against Nicholls State, including a 6-1 record at home and a 3-0 record in Thibodaux. The Tigers lost the first meeting, 3-0, in 1998, but have won the last nine meetings since. Last season, LSU defeated the Colonels, 3-0, in Thibodaux before a 20-0 win in Baton Rouge. Head coach Yvette Girouard is 66-19 all-time against Nicholls, including an 8-0 record at LSU.
The Tigers then travel to Columbia, S.C. to open the SEC schedule with a three-game series at South Carolina this weekend. LSU will face the Gamecocks in a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon (CT), before closing out the series with a single game on Sunday at noon (CT).