BATON ROUGE — LSU’s Jazz Jackson and Dani Hofer were selected the first Louisiana Softball Hitter and Pitcher of the Week for 2007, as announced by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association on Tuesday.
Hofer, the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week, was 3-0 last weekend, throwing her second no-hitter of the season against Southern Miss. The sophomore also recorded a complete-game one-hitter and a two-hitter in her three appearances.
The Most Valuable Player of the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge was two walks away from a perfect game against the Golden Eagles, striking out 13 of the 17 batters she faced. She also recorded 11 strikeouts in her first appearance of the week against Louisiana Tech. For the season, she is now 7-0 with 84 strikeouts in 44 innings.
A member of the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge All-Tournament team, Jackson was 13-for-18 on the week for a .722 batting average. The freshman designated player led the tournament in batting average, hits – with five more than the closest player, and nine runs scored.
In six consecutive at-bats over the course of three games, Jackson recorded six consecutive hits. She extended her hitting streak to seven games, the second longest of any Tiger player this year. With a 4-for-4 performance against Troy, she was one hits shy of the school record for hits in a game. In addition, she recorded her second career double and first career triple with three stolen bases.
This is the second career Louisiana Pitcher of the Week honor for Hofer and the first for Jackson. These are the first Louisiana Hitter/Pitcher of the Week awards this season. The LSWA will announce the weekly honors on Tuesday afternoons each week until the completion of the 2007 season.