LSU Gold

Softball Opens NCAA Play vs. Cal State Northridge

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
NCAA Regional Notes Live Stats +0
Softball Opens NCAA Play vs. Cal State Northridge

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The third-ranked LSU softball, seeded 10th overall nationally, will begin its quest for the third Women’s College World Series berth in school history as the Tigers face Cal State Northridge at 5 p.m. CT at Boyd & Jill Family Stadium in the NCAA Softball Palo Alto Regional on Thursday.

All of LSU’s NCAA Regional 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 GeauxZone on LSUsports.net. The NCAA Regional championship game or games will be televised on ESPN2 in Baton Rouge on cable channel 36.

The Tigers (52-10) are coming off their fifth SEC Tournament championship in nine years, including wins over South Carolina, then-No. 2 Alabama and No. 19 Florida. LSU earned the league’s automatic bid after claiming the conference tournament title and is the 10th overall national seed and the No. 1 seed in the Palo Alto Regional.

“We will approach this tournament in the same way we have approached our games recently,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “For a while we have been playing with a chip on our shoulder. We have to play like we have something to prove, because the NCAA selection committee obviously wants us to prove something.”

Cal State Northridge (23-21-1) earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after finishing 9-9 in the Big West. The Matadors finished fourth in the Big West Conference, and are making their first NCAA Regional appearance since 2004 and 13th overall.

“I think Northridge can swing the bat and they have a player that you can’t allow to beat you,” said Girouard. “It’s the same as usual. You can’t let their best player beat you. We will have to swing our bats like we know we are capable of doing.”

If the Tigers advance past Cal State Northridge, LSU will face the winner of the Stanford-Fresno State game at 2 p.m. CT on Friday. A win in that game would put LSU directly into the regional championship game on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT. If the Tigers lose to the Matadors, LSU would have to advance through the losers bracket. The Tigers would face the Stanford-Fresno State loser on Friday at 5 p.m. CT and would then have to defeat the loser of the 2 p.m. CT game at 8 p.m. CT.

“I thought our approach today at practice was very mature,” said Girouard. “I think we are over not being able to play at home. We’re here and we need to get the job done. It’s nice to have the practice time on Wednesday because we were able to see that the ball carries, the field is deceivingly large in the gaps a lot like ours and they have a short outfield fence, which is very different from what we are used to.”

If LSU wins the Palo Alto Regional, it will be paired against the winner of the Provo Regional and would likely travel to Tempe, Ariz., to face sixth-seeded Arizona State if the Sun Devils advance out of their regional. The winner of that Super Regional would advance to the Women’s College World Series.

“When a lot has been on the line, except for the Georgia series, our team has shown up, and it’s shown up against some really good competition,” said Girouard. “I hope that our team can take that attitude into this tournament.”

At the plate for the season, freshman Jazz Jackson leads LSU with a .394 batting average, followed by senior All-American Leslie Klein at .390. Jackson leads the team with 74 hits, while ranking third on the squad with 15 stolen bases in 16 attempts. Klein, a USA Softball National Player of the Year Top 25 finalist, ranks second on the team with 73 hits, a school record 21 doubles, eight home runs and 58 RBIs. In addition, she ranks second on the team with 21 stolen bases.

As a team, the Tigers lead the SEC with 96 doubles, 20 ahead of the closest team, while ranking 15th in the nation with a .312 batting average. LSU also leads the league with 515 hits and is second with 285 RBIs. The Tigers are in the top three in the SEC in almost every statistical category.

Christina Saenz leads Cal State Northridge at the plate with a .375 batting average. In addition, she leads the team with eight doubles and has recorded five home runs and 26 RBI. Amanda Peek is the Matadors’ biggest threat for extra bases, recording a .352 average with six doubles and 13 home runs, the only player with more than five home runs on the team. Peek also leads Cal State Northridge with 29 RBI, while being walked 24 times.

As a team, the Matadors have a .278 batting average. Cal State Northridge has posted 47 doubles, seven triples and 36 home runs, scoring 195 total runs this season on 310 hits. The Matadors are not a team that steals many bases, swiping 42 this year on 62 attempts.

Among the regular starters for the Tigers, Dani Hofer leads LSU with a 23-2 record and ranks 19th in the NCAA with a 1.27 earned run average with a team-best 234 strikeouts. The sophomore has also posted 10 complete-game shutouts and combined for three more.  All-American Emily Turner is 19-6 on the season, including a pair of wins over No. 5 Alabama and a pair of wins over No. 2 Tennessee this season. The senior has ranks 15th nationally with a 1.17 earned run average and has recorded 176 strikeouts with six complete-game shutouts and two combined.

The Tigers ranks second in the nation with an ERA of 1.17, having allowed only 88 runs, 70 earned, in 419.0 innings. LSU is limiting opponents to just a .174 batting average against, while posting 26 shutouts in 62 games, the second most in the SEC. Tiger pitchers have also struck out 511 as a team.

Mercedes Lovato leads Cal State Northridge with a 15-11 record, including a 3.26 earned run average and 98 strikeouts. Ama Pitzenberger leads the Matadors with a 3.23 earned run average, while posting an 8-7 record. Sam Schroeder has seen action mostly in relief, going 0-3 on the year with a 4.16 earned run average. As a team, Cal State Northridge has a 3.37 earned run average with 180 strikeouts in 288.2 innings. The Matadors are allowing opponents to hit .255 against them and have given up 34 home runs.

Having qualified for nine NCAA Tournaments in 11 seasons, LSU is 28-16 (.636) all-time in the tournament, the fifth best winning percentage of any school in the NCAA Tournament in the nation.  In 2001, the Tigers advanced to their first Women’s College World Series, where LSU went 2-2. Three years later, the Tigers again advanced to the WCWS, this time coming seven outs away from the national championship game.

GAME FACTS: LSU Tigers (52-10, 22-6 SEC) vs. Cal State Northridge Matadors (23-21-1, 9-9 Big West)

DATE/TIME: Thursday, May 17 – 5 p.m. CT

RANKINGS: LSU (#5 NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, #3 ESPN/USA Softball Poll)
Cal State Northridge (Not Ranked)

STADIUM: Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium (820)

RADIO: The X – 104.5/104.9 FM

TELEVISION: None

INTERNET: Audio broadcast and live stats in the GeauxZone at LSUsports.net

SERIES RECORD: First Meeting.

NCAA Softball Regionals
May 17-20, 2007
Campus Sites
(host indicated by *)
All times Central and subject to change

Tucson Regional – May 18-20 at Tucson, Ariz.
Live Stats
Pacific (34-22) vs. Mississippi St. (34-25), 6 p.m.
*(1) Arizona (39-12-1) vs. Howard, 8:30 p.m.

Columbus Regional – May 18-20 at Columbus, Ohio
Live Stats
Cal St. Fullerton (34-20) vs. (16) Virginia Tech (47-14), 4 p.m.
*Ohio St. (38-16) vs. Canisius (27-19), 6:30 p.m.

Ann Arbor Regional – May 18-20 at Ann Arbor, Mich.
Live Stats
Louisville (36-23) vs. Oregon St. (39-21), 3:30 p.m.
*(9) Michigan (43-11) vs. Eastern Michigan (27-20), 6 p.m.

Hempstead Regional – May 18-20 at Hempstead, N.Y.
Live Stats
Albany (33-15) vs. (8) Baylor (45-13), 11 a.m.
*Hofstra (40-13) vs. Harvard (31-13), 1:30 p.m.

Knoxville Regional – May 18-20 at Knoxville, Tenn.
Live Stats
Winthrop (48-16) vs. North Carolina (45-19), 1:30 p.m.
(5) Tennessee (54-5) vs. Furman (21-34-1), 4 p.m.

Los Angeles Regional – May 18-20 at Los Angeles, Calif.
Live Stats
Hawaii (46-11) vs. UC-Santa Barbara (30-21), 4:30 p.m.
Loyola Marymount (45-16) vs. *(12) UCLA (36-16), 7:30 p.m.

Gainesville Regional – May 18-20 at Gainesville, Fla.
Live Stats
Texas (33-18) vs. Georgia Tech (53-13), 2:30 p.m.
*(13) Florida (46-20) vs. Stetson (44-20), 5 p.m.

College Station Regional – May 18-20 at College Station ,Texas
Live Stats
Houston (42-16) vs. UL-Lafayette (46-16), 1 p.m.
Sam Houston St. (37-24) vs. *(4) Texas A&M (40-10), 4 p.m.

Amherst Regional – May 18-20 at Amherst, Mass.
Live Stats | Live Video
(3) Oklahoma (52-6) vs. Colgate (25-22), 1 p.m.
Long Island (33-20) vs. *Massachusetts (37-12-1), 3:30 p.m.

Carbondale Regional – May 18-20 at Carbondale, Ill.
Live Stats | Live Video
Mississippi Valley (29-26) vs. (14) DePaul (41-11), 2 p.m.
Missouri (38-22) vs. *Southern Illinois (40-14), 4:30 p.m.

Tuscaloosa Regional – May 18-20 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Live Stats
California (33-30) vs. Florida St. (44-23), 3:30 p.m.
*(11) Alabama (51-7) vs. Tennessee Tech (48-17), 6 p.m.

Lincoln Regional – May 18-20 at Lincoln, Neb.
Live Stats | Live Video
Creighton (39-12-1) vs. (6) Washington (35-16), 4 p.m.
*Nebraska (37-18) vs. Georgia (43-26), 7 p.m.

Provo Regional – May 17-19 at Provo, Utah
Live Stats | Live Video
(7) Arizona St. (49-15) vs. Southern Utah (29-29), 1 p.m.
*Brigham Young (41-18) vs. Cal Poly (39-15), 4 p.m.

Palo Alto Regional – May 17-19 at Palo Alto, California
Live Stats
Cal St. Northridge (23-21) vs. (10) LSU (52-10), 5 p.m.
*Stanford (33-19-1) vs. Fresno St. (46-16), 8 p.m.

Columbia Regional – May 18-20 at Columbia, S.C.
Live Stats
Penn St. (26-23) vs. Oregon (42-17), 3 p.m.
(15) NC State (41-19) vs. *South Carolina (34-23), 6 p.m.

Evanston Regional – May 18-20 at Evanston, Ill.
Live Stats | Live Video
Illinois St. (42-15-1) vs. Notre Dame (31-22), noon
Wright St. (25-33) vs. *(2) Northwestern (45-11), 2:30 p.m.