BATON ROUGE — LSU junior Andrea Smith was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Monday.
The Moreno Valley, Calif., native led the Tigers to a 3-1 record on the week, including an SEC three-game series win over No. 2-ranked Alabama, 2-1. The series win vaulted LSU ahead of the Crimson Tide in the SEC Western Division standings, just behind No. 1-ranked Tennessee overall.
Smith led the team with a .500 batting average and a .538 on base percentage after going 6-for-12 at the plate. She recorded a pair of doubles and four RBIs. The Tiger shortstop improved her overall batting average from .198 entering last week to .237 currently, while also setting a season best with her eighth double, two better than her previous season highs of six.
In LSU’s second game on Saturday, she went 3-for-3 against Alabama, knocking in the game-winning run on a two-out walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving the Crimson Tide just their second loss this season. For the game, she was responsible for three of the Tigers’ five runs after knocking in a pair of runs on a double that put LSU ahead 2-1 earlier in the contest.
Her three-hit performance tied her career high for the most hits in a single game and marked a season-best for hits in a game. In addition, her three RBIs tied her career high for RBIs in a game and set a new season high for RBIs in a contest.
She came back against Alabama on Sunday to go 2-for-3 with her fourth RBI of the week. The nine-hole hitter knocked in the second run in LSU’s 3-0 shutout victory over the Crimson Tide.
This marks the first SEC Player of the Week honor for Smith in her career. It is also the third SEC Player of the Week honor and fifth overall conference honor for LSU this season. The Tigers have now won the SEC Player of the Week award in three of the last four weeks, while also adding a pair of SEC Pitcher of the Week honors to have at least one conference award in each of the last five weeks.
The Tigers return to action on Wednesday as LSU takes on in-state rival McNeese State in Lake Charles at 6 p.m. On March 7, the Tigers knocked off the Cowgirls, 7-1, in Baton Rouge on Cox Sports Television. LSU holds a perfect 15-0 record all-time against McNeese State and the Tigers are riding a 52-game winning streak over Louisiana teams dating back to April 2001.
LSU returns to conference play next weekend at Auburn. The Fighting Tigers will take on AU in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Sunday at 1p.m.
LSU will return home next week for a mid-week doubleheader against Kentucky next Tuesday before hosting South Carolina in a three-game series on Easter weekend, with a doubleheader on Friday and a single game on Saturday.