BATON ROUGE — Fans wearing pink will receive FREE admission this weekend as the 10th-ranked LSU softball team hosts 19th-ranked Florida Gators in a three-game series at Tiger Park, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The promotions, including free admission compliments of The Advocate, are part of the “Think Pink” weekend to bring attention to Breast Cancer Research. Fans will also have the chance to catch special pink LSU softball t-shirts throughout the weekend. In addition, Habitat for Humanity will give away pink tool belts.
“It’s going to be a great weekend for softball with tremendous weather and we hope we can get a great, enthusiastic, supportive crowd,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard.
The games have been added to the radio schedule and will be broadcast in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM and also in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In addition, all three games will have live streaming video available in the Geaux Zone. The final game of the series will be televised live on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.
The Tigers (25-4, 2-1 SEC) enter the weekend a game behind Alabama in the SEC West and a game behind South Carolina overall. The Gamecocks are the only remaining undefeated team in league play after just a week and a half of competition. Last weekend, LSU opened conference play at Ole Miss, taking 2-of-3 from the Rebels in Oxford. The Tigers won a mid-week game against Texas-San Antonio on Tuesday.
“It has proven so far this year that this conference has great parity,” said Girouard. “With everyone beating up on each other, it just shows how good this conference really is.”
Florida comes into Tiger Park with a record of 20-11, including a 2-3 record in SEC play. The Gators took one of three games last weekend from No. 1 Tennessee and split a doubleheader with No. 2 Alabama on Wednesday. The Gator’s win over the Lady Vols marked the second time this season Florida has won a game over the No. 1 ranked team. The Gators defeated then No. 1 Arizona earlier in the year in a pre-conference tournament.
“We will be facing what I’m sure will be a very confident Florida team,” said Girouard. “They come in after being Arizona, who was No. 1, Tennessee, who was No. 1, and took a game from Alabama, so we will have our hands full with the Gators.
“Ultimately, what we have to do is just worry about ourselves,” Girouard continued. “We have to get back on track and get on a roll. The minute we start playing Tiger softball, we’ll be fine and we won’t have to worry about our opponents.”
At the plate for the season, junior Dee Dee Henderson leads LSU with a .585 batting average. The Atlanta, Texas, native also leads the team with 20 stolen bases, and ranks fourth on the team with 22 runs scored. She is currently riding a 12-game hitting streak, the longest on the team this season and three games shy of the school record.
Earning Louisiana Hitter of the Week honors on Tuesday, Henderson led the Tigers in batting average at .462 and stolen bases with four and tied for the team lead in hits with six for the week. Against Ole Miss on Saturday, she scored the game winning run in a 2-0 win in nine innings in the second game of the win over Ole Miss after reaching on a base hit. She came back on Tuesday to break the LSU single-game stolen base record with four.
Freshman Jazz Jackson, junior Killian Roessner and senior Leslie Klein are all hitting over .400 for the Tigers, coming in at .455, .443 and .427 respectively. Klein leads the SEC with 11 doubles and is one shy of breaking the LSU career doubles record. Roessner ranks second in the league with 10 doubles as the Tigers lead the SEC with 51 on the year.
As a team, the Tigers ranks second in the conference with a .342 batting average and a .429 on base percentage. LSU also leads the league with 258 hits and 161 RBIs. The Tigers are in the top three in the SEC in almost every statistical category. Despite stealing 57 bases in 62 attempts, LSU only ranks fourth in the conference in that category, showing just how much speed is in the league.
In the circle, junior Tiffany Garcia is 5-0 on the year with a 0.64 earned run average, while freshman Cody Trahan is also undefeated at 2-0 with a spotless 0.00 ERA. Sophomore Dani Hofer is 10-1 with a 1.18 earned run average, including a team-best 113 strikeouts in 71 innings. Turner is 8-3 on the year with a 1.41 ERA and 92 strikeouts, while LSU boasts a 1.09 team ERA with 15 shutouts, while holding opponents to a meager .136 batting average.
Hofer went 2-0 last weekend without allowing a single run in 16 total innings to be named both the SEC and Louisiana Pitcher of the Week. Against Ole Miss on Saturday, she allowed just two singles, the only two base runners of the game, in a nine-inning shutout. She came back on Sunday and allowed only four hits in a complete-game shutout. On the weekend, she did not allow a base runner to reach third against her.
Sophomore Kim Waleszonia leads Florida with a .337 batting average, while sophomore Ali Gardiner is just behind at .308 and leads the Gators with 17 RBIs. As a team Florida is hitting at a .233 clip for the season with 31 doubles, three triples and 14 home runs. The Gators are also a base stealing team, having stolen 46 doubles, but have also been thrown out 11 times.
Sophomore Stacey Nelson leads Florida with a 12-5 record and a 1.10 earned run average. She has thrown 120.2 innings and struck out 109 with four complete-game shutouts. Senior Stacey Stevens is 8-6 for the Gators with a 2.24 ERA. She has struck out 50 in 93.2 innings. As a team, Florida has a 1.60 earned run average, while the Gators have struck out 160 in 218.1 innings with nine shutouts.
Last season the Tigers swept the three game series against Florida in Baton Rouge, defeating the Gators, 2-0, 7-6 and 5-0. The Tigers are 23-7 all-time against Florida, and have won seven straight and 11 of the last 12 over the Gators. LSU is 11-2 against Florida in Baton Rouge. For her career, Girouard is 18-4 all-time against Florida.
Next week, the Tigers will travel for a mid-week game against Centenary in Shreveport. LSU will take on the Ladies on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Earlier in the season, the Tigers knocked off Centenary, 9-0, in five innings in the Easton Tiger Classic.
LSU returns to conference play next weekend against nationally ranked Alabama at home. The Tigers will host the second-ranked Crimson Tide in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday and concluding with a single game on Sunday.
LSU will host “Bark in the Park” and dog owners are encouraged to bring their family friendly pets to the park on a leash all weekend. The first 100 dogs will receive free LSU “Geaux Dog Geaux” collars and an extreme canine stunt dog act will perform on Saturday between the two games of the doubleheader.
SERIES FACTS
LSU Tigers (25-4, 2-1 SEC) vs. Florida Gators (20-11, 2-3 SEC)
DATE/TIME
Saturday, March 17 ? 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, March 18 ? 1 p.m.
STADIUM
Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, La.
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network (WNXX-FM, The X -104.5/104.9 in Baton Rouge)
INTERNET
Live streaming video, audio and stats in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net
TV
Sunday: Cox Sports Television ? Cable channel 37
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads 23-7