HOUSTON — The undefeated and fifth-ranked LSU softball team hits the road for the first time this season as the Tigers travel to Houston for the Crowne Plaza Invitational this weekend.
LSU (7-0) swept through the Easton Tiger Classic at home last weekend, winning their sixth tournament title, before shutting out UL-Monroe, 7-0, on Wednesday afternoon. This weekend, the Tigers will open play on Friday against Missouri State (5-0) at 5 p.m., before taking on tournament host Houston (3-2), which is receiving votes in the national poll, at 7 p.m.
Tournament play continues for LSU on Saturday as the Tigers face Texas State (1-4) at 9 a.m. and Indiana (0-0) at 11 a.m. LSU will close out the tournament against Southern Illinois (4-1), which is receiving votes in the poll, on Sunday at 11 a.m.
“This will be a very good tournament,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Houston beat Michigan on Sunday night in a tournament they had in Houston. They are a formidable opponent along with some good other out-of-conference teams in the tournament.”
Senior Kristen Hobbs had a career weekend for the Tigers in the Easton Tiger Classic, earning her MVP honors. She went 8-for-15 (.533) from the plate with four home runs, nine RBIs and five runs scored. Against Missouri, she tied the school record with a pair of home runs and posted home runs in back-to-back games by adding her third home run against Centenary. On Wednesday, she extended her hitting streak to a career-best five games with a double, her fifth extra-base hit of the year.
In three previous seasons at LSU, the senior catcher from Royal Palm Beach, Fla., had previously recorded only 29 hits and two home runs. She was limited to just five game appearances last season after having Tommy John surgery and will likely have a second surgery following this year, but she has made her presence felt this season. This year, she already has nine hits and four homers.
Freshman Jazz Jackson is just behind Hobbs with a .526 batting average. She began her career by recording hits in her first six plate appearances and has also posted four stolen bases. Junior Vanessa Soto leads LSU with 11 RBIs, including a pair of home runs among her seven hits.
As a team, the Tigers are batting at a remarkable .343 clip. Five players are hitting .300 or above, including four over .400, while the Tigers have recorded 12 doubles, a triple and nine home runs in just their first seven games. Unfortunately, LSU has also left 53 runners on base in seven games, which averages out to over 7.5 a game.
“Our competition is increasing and when you go against ranked teams, or top notch teams, throwaway at-bats will come back to haunt you,” said Girouard about her team’s missed opportunities in early season games. “We have to make some adjustments.”
“We’re going to get the team’s attention; otherwise someone else will get their attention. We want to shoot for the stars. We want better all the time and I know that we can do more. Until we get there, we will keep preaching about getting better.
Emily Turner leads LSU with a perfect 3-0 record. The senior All-American has recorded one shutout with a 0.67 earned run average and 24 strikeouts in three appearances. Sophomore Dani Hofer is 2-0, including the complete-game extra-inning win over Memphis, with 25 strikeouts. Junior Tiffany Garcia threw her third career no-hitter in her only appearance of the year against Centenary, while freshman Cody Trahan threw a complete-game one-hitter against UL-Monroe.
As a team, the Tigers have a 0.57 earned run average and are allowing opponents to hit just .120 against them. In addition, LSU pitchers have struck out 63 batters, which averages out to nine strikeouts per seven innings.
Houston, under head coach Kyla Holas, a former All-American under Girouard at UL-Lafayette, posted a pair of wins over Ole Miss and a 2-1 upset of No. 11 Michigan at the Wilson/DeMarini Invitational last weekend. The Cougars also dropped an extra-inning game with Michigan last Saturday. The Tigers are 3-1 all-time against Houston, with three of those meetings coming in the 2003 Purple & Gold Challenge in Baton Rouge.
Indiana begins its season this weekend after going 30-25-1 last year, including an 8-9 record in Big Ten play. LSU is 1-0 all-time against Indiana, with the lone meeting a 6-1 win in the 2005 Tiger Classic. Missouri State is undefeated after winning all five of their games last weekend at the Central Arkansas Lead-Off Tournament. This will be the first meeting between LSU and the Bears.
Southern Illinois lost its season opener against UNC-Greensobo before knocking off Jacksonville twice, Minnesota and getting a revenge win against UNCG. This will be the first meeting between LSU and the Salukis
Texas State lost its first four games before coming back to take its first win of the year against Texas-San Antonio last weekend. LSU is 2-0 all-time against Texas State, with the last meeting a 3-2 win by the Tigers in eight innings in the 2005 NFCA Leadoff Classic.
Next weekend, LSU will host the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge. The Tigers will begin play on Friday at 3:30 p.m. against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. LSU will also face Louisiana Tech, Troy and Southern Miss as part of the three-day tournament. After round robin play concludes on Saturday, the top four seeds will advance to championship bracket play on Sunday with the title game at 2 p.m.