BATON ROUGE — Having won 11-straight games, the 11th-ranked LSU softball team will host Southeastern Conference rival Auburn in a three-game series at Tiger Park this weekend for “Pack the Park”, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
All three games will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network in Baton Rouge on The X – 104.5/104.9 FM. The broadcasts can also be heard in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies on LSUsports.net. The final game of the series will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.
As part of the “Pack the Park” weekend, fans are encouraged to come out and have the opportunity to participate in great games and giveaways. Prizes, from LSU sunflower seeds to t-shirts and iPods will be awarded all weekend.
“It is great for us to play at home again this weekend,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Hopefully the weather will be great for our fans to come out and support our softball Tigers and we can have a great crowd at Tiger Park for ‘Pack the Park’ weekend.”
The Fighting Tigers (36-5, 10-2 SEC) are currently second in the SEC Western Division and tied for second overall in the league standings. LSU has won 11-straight games dating back to March 19, and has won 20 of its last 22. The 11-game winning streak is second only to the 14 wins the Fighting Tigers rattled off to start the 2006 season.
Auburn enters the series ranked No. 19 in the nation with a 25-10 overall record with a 6-6 mark in SEC play. AU lost 2-of-3 at Florida in a mid-week series last week before defeating Florida State and Tennessee Tech last weekend. Auburn is in third in the SEC West and in sixth overall in the conference as the pair reaches the mid-way point of the league schedule.
“This is a huge SEC series,” said Girouard. “We are welcoming in a very good Auburn team that certainly has our attention.”
Junior Leslie Klein leads LSU with a .439 average. The center fielder has posted a hit in every game of the Fighting Tigers’ 11-game winning streak, tying her for the 10th longest hitting streak in school history and four shy of her school record of 15 games. During the streak, she has hit .588, with three doubles, a triple and three home runs, while posting 13 RBIs.
For the season, sophomore Vanessa Soto is also hitting above a .400 clip with a .406 average. The second baseman has recorded a team-best 14 doubles with 33 RBIs and four home runs.
Six of the Fighting Tigers’ nine starters are hitting over .300 for the season as LSU has recorded a .338 batting average for the season. The purple and gold have pounded out an SEC-best 73 doubles with eight triples and 29 home runs, including four against Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday.
In addition, LSU leads the SEC in stolen bases for the season with 73. Sophomore Dee Dee Henderson leads the team with 20 stolen bases, one shy of her total of 21 last season. Senior Camille Harris has stolen 13 bases, while Klein has boosted 12. Eight players have stolen at least four bases for the season, while 11 total players have stolen at least one base this year.
Kristina McCain leads Auburn with a .398 batting average, including eight doubles, a triple and five home runs. A trio of AU players each has a team-best 24 RBIs, including Sara Ghezzi, Tatiana Fernandez and Holly Currie. As a team, Auburn is hitting .301 for the season with 46 doubles, eight triples and 29 home runs.
In the circle, Emily Turner has emerged as the No. 1 for LSU. The junior boasts a 14-2 overall record with a save and a 0.48 earned run average. In addition, she has posted 10 complete-game shutouts in her 17 appearances, with 111 strikeouts. Only once has she allowed more than two runs in an outing during the season, giving up only seven earned runs all year.
Dani Hofer has been phenomenal in her freshman campaign. The 2005 National High School Player of the Year is 12-3 on the season with a save and a 1.40 ERA, including wins over nationally ranked Washington and Oklahoma. She also leads the team with 118 strikeouts in 18 appearances.
As a team, the Fighting Tigers boast an 0.84 earned run average with 22 shutouts in 41 games. The pitching staff averages almost eight strikeouts per seven innings while allowing opponents to hit just .161 against them.
For Auburn, Currie leads the way in the circle with a 14-5 record and a 1.47 earned run average. In addition, she has recorded 201 strikeouts in 129 innings. Beth DiPietro is 11-4 for AU on the season with a 1.58 ERA. As a team, Auburn has posted a 1.55 ERA for the season with 308 strikeouts and nine shutouts in 238.2 innings.
LSU leads the overall series with Auburn, 26-10, but AU has won five of the last six meetings, all away from Tiger Park, including four meetings last season. Auburn swept LSU for the first time in school history last season. The purple and gold are 9-3 in Baton Rouge, with the last meeting an 11-0 five-inning win for LSU in 2004. Girouard is 11-8 all-time against Auburn, all while at LSU.
GAME FACTS:
No. 11 LSU Tigers (36-5, 10-2 SEC) vs. No. 19 Auburn (25-10, 6-6 SEC)
DATE/TIME:
Saturday, April 8 – 1 p.m./3 p.m.; Sunday, April 9 – 1 p.m.
RANKINGS:
LSU (#11 NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, #12 ESPN/USA Softball Poll)
Auburn (#19 NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, #20 ESPN/USA Softball Poll)
STADIUM:
Tiger Park (1,000)
RADIO:
The X – 104.5/104.9 FM
TELEVISION:
Sunday – Cox Sports Television (Baton Rouge cable channel 37)
INTERNET:
Audio broadcast and live stats in the GeauxZone powered by USAgencies at www.LSUsports.net
SERIES RECORD:
LSU leads 26-10.