BATON ROUGE — After going 2-3 last weekend with two losses to top 10-ranked teams, the LSU softball team slipped in the polls, coming in at No. 9 in the NFCA/USA Today poll and No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll, as the Tigers prepare to host in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park.
Southeastern Conference rival Alabama remained in the No. 1 spot in both polls, while LSU, Tennessee and Florida all come in ranked in the top 10. In addition, Mississippi State and Georgia are ranked in the top 25, which give the league the most nationally ranked teams of any conference in the nation. After coming in at No. 6 in the NFCA/USA Today poll last week, LSU dropped to No. 9 this week. The Tigers also dropped in the ESPN/USA Softball poll from No. 7 to No. 12.
“We’re in a little bit of a funk and we need to get over that hump,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We are going to challenge pretty well at practice today and from here on in.”
LSU has now been ranked for 32 straight weeks in the NFCA poll and has been among the nationally ranked teams in 136 of the 157 polls (.866) that have been released since the LSU program was reinstated in 1997. The Tigers have also been ranked in the top 10 for 90 total weeks. Since ESPN began its softball poll on Feb. 25, 2003, LSU has been ranked in 72 of the 81 polls (.889). The Tigers have now been ranked in the top 10 for 41 total weeks.
Traveling to one of the most prestigious tournaments in the nation, LSU went 2-3 last weekend. The Tigers had a bad case of the “at em’s” in their first loss against Florida Atlantic as LSU hit the ball on the nose most of the game, but unfortunately had nothing to show for it. Killian Roessner delivered a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat Pacific in the next game.
“It was kind of a bad start to the tournament,” Girouard continued. “We got beat in the first game and if you looked at the stats, you don’t think that we played very well. But, we hit the ball probably as hard as you can hit it and had nothing to show for it.”
On day two, the Tigers trailed Cal State Fullerton into the seventh inning, but Erika Sluss hit a game-tying home run before Dee Dee Henderson delivered a game-winning RBI single in the top of the eighth. LSU led No. 2 Northwestern through five innings before a three-run home run by the Wildcats proved the game winner.
“We had the game won against Northwestern, who I voted the No. 1 team in the nation last weekend, and we made a pitching change in the sixth inning and gave up a three-run home run and lost the game,” said Girouard. “We also had our chances against Arizona and had the tying run at the plate.”
Against No. 9 Arizona on Sunday, the Tigers gave up four home runs that were the difference in the game. LSU had the tying run at the plate in the top of the sixth, but could not complete the comeback effort.
“I’m not going to call it a lost weekend because we are going to learn some things from this past weekend,” said Girouard. “Going into Sunday’s play last weekend 67 home runs had been hit in the tournament. That gives you a little capsule of how the weekend went.”
UL-Monroe comes into Wednesday’s game with a record of 6-7. The Warhawks posted wins over Wagner and BYU last weekend, but lost to Virginia and No. 5 Tennessee. This will be ULM’s seventh game in its 13 games so far this season against in-state opponents. The Warhawks are 2-4 so far against Louisiana teams, with two wins over Northwestern State and a loss to UL-Lafayette and three losses to Louisiana Tech.
“Hopefully we can get back on track against ULM,” said Girouard. “I don’t think our kids always understand the target on their backs and the recognition that they carry, especially against in-state schools. We made it very clear when we played Southeastern last week. The NCAA committee considered the loss to Southeastern last year at the end of the season as the reason why we weren’t in the top eight national seeds even though we beat the No. 1 team in two of three games two days later. Every game matters.”
Shannon Stein leads LSU at the plate for the season with a .433 batting average. The senior also posts a team-best four doubles with a home run and seven RBIs. Tayl’r Hollis leads the Tigers with three home runs and 13 RBIs, while Rachel Mitchell boasts a team-best 13 runs scored. Henderson, who ranks second in career stolen bases in LSU history, leads the team with 12 stolen bases.
As a team, the Tigers boast a .313 batting average, with six starters boasting averages over .300. LSU has also hit 19 doubles with three triples and 12 home runs. In 12 games, the Tigers have scored 75 runs and stolen 40 of 41 bases. In the field, LSU has recorded only eight errors and the Tigers boast a fielding percentage of .973.
In the circle, LSU has a team 2.09 earned run average. Dani Hofer leads the starters with a 1.38 earned run average and a 6-1 record. Having allowed only 17 hits in over 40 innings, unfortunately, seven of those hits have been home runs. However, opponents are hitting only .121 against her as she has struck out 64.
Cody Trahan is 2-1 on the season with a 2.77 earned run average, followed by Tiffany Garcia at 1-1 with a 4.31 earned run average. Freshman Casey Faile has come on in relief in four games and has yet to give up a run and allowed only two hits in five and two-thirds innings.
“Obviously we did not pitch well,” Girouard said of last weekend’s games. “I fired myself three different times over the weekend, since I am the pitching coach. We’re going to have to learn from this and get a whole lot better real quick. We can’t make mistakes over the plate and can’t make that many mistakes against quality teams.”
Brianna Love leads UL-Monroe at the plate for the year with a .389 batting average, while boasting a team-best four home runs, nine RBIs, and 13 runs scored. As a team, the Warhawks are hitting at a .251 clip with 12 doubles and five home runs. ULM has stolen 10 bases, but also been caught stealing on six occasions. Louisiana-Monroe has committed 19 errors in 13 games for a .946 fielding percentage.
In the circle, Lindsay Rittenhouse leads the Warhawks with a 1.27 earned run average on a team-best eight appearances. In 33.0 innings, she has struck out 44 and recorded a 2-4 record. Kandace Causey leads ULM with a 3-2 record, while posting a 2.44 earned run average and a shutout. As a team, the Warhawks have a 2.02 earned run average with two shutouts and 99 strikeouts in 83.0 innings.
LSU is 3-0 all-time against UL-Monroe, with the Tigers sweeping a doubleheader from the Warhawks in 1998, 10-0 and 8-0, at Tiger Park, and winning a single game, 7-0, at Tiger Park last season. For her career, Girouard is 61-19 all-time against the UL-Monroe, with a 1-0 record while at LSU.
The Tigers will next host the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge this weekend. LSU will take on Penn State, South Alabama, Southern Miss and Tulsa in the three-day tournament. Round robin play begins on Friday and continues through Saturday with championship play on Sunday. The Tigers’ game against South Alabama on Friday at 6 p.m. will be broadcast on 91.1 FM – KLSU, LSU’s student-run radio station.
GAME FACTS: No. 9 LSU Tigers (9-3) vs. UL-Monroe Warhawks (6-7)
DATE/TIME:Wednesday, Feb. 27 – 6 p.m.
RANKINGS:
LSU (#9 NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, #12 ESPN/USA Softball Poll)
UL-Monroe (Not Ranked)
STADIUM:Tiger Park (1,000)
RADIO:None
TELEVISION: None
INTERNET:Live stats of games at www.LSUsports.net
SERIES RECORD:LSU leads 3-0
NFCA/USA Today Top 25 Poll
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1.
Alabama (27)
15-0
713
2.
Texas A&M (1)
16-2
671
3.
Arizona State (1)
16-1
641
4.
Tennessee
14-1
622
5.
Florida
19-0
596
6.
Northwestern
7-2
591
7.
UCLA
13-2
550
8.
Arizona
6-4
460
9.
LSU
9-3
459
T-10.
Oklahoma
12-4
454
T-10.
Stanford
15-1
454
12.
Michigan
11-2
428
13.
Baylor
9-3
414
14.
Houston
14-0
351
15.
Hawai’i
8-2
337
16.
UL-Lafayette
8-0
241
17.
Georgia
12-4
232
18.
Mississippi State
13-2
229
19.
DePaul
7-4
204
20.
Ohio State
11-4
174
21.
San Diego State
11-4
110
22.
Texas
8-4-1
97
23.
North Carolina
12-3
94
24.
Virginia Tech
9-4
57
25.
Washington
7-5-1
40
Others Receiving Votes:Fresno State 33, Maryland 29, Cal State Fullerton 27, Iowa 24, UNLV 22, Kansas 18, Western Kentucky 13, Arkansas 7, Southern Illinois 6, Oregon State 6, California 6, Colorado State 5, Creighton 4, Iowa State 2, Florida Atlantic 2, Hofstra 1, Oregon 1.
ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 Poll
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1.
Alabama (16)
15-0
490
2.
Arizona State (1)
16-1
478
3.
Texas A&M (1)
16-2
455
4.
UCLA (2)
13-2
439
5
Northwestern
7-2
412
6
Tennessee
14-1
375
7.
Florida
19-0
372
8.
Stanford
15-1
352
9.
Oklahoma
12-4
342
10.
Arizona
6-4
324
11.
Michigan
11-2
300
12.
LSU
9-3
294
T13.
Baylor
9-3
238
T13.
Hawaii
8-2
238
15.
UL-Lafayette
8-0
224
16.
Houston
14-0
183
17.
Georgia
12-4
180
18.
Mississippi State
13-2
162
19.
DePaul
7-4
112
20.
San Diego State
11-4
104
21.
Ohio State
11-4
85
22.
Fresno State
8-3
58
23.
North Carolina
12-3
52
24.
Virginia Tech
9-4
49
25.
Texas
8-4-1
44
Others receiving votes:UNLV 27, Cal State Fullerton 13, Missouri 11, Arkansas 9, UMass 8, Purdue 8, Colorado State 7, Nevada 7, Hofstra 5, Maryland 5, Kansas 4, Oregon 3, Western Kentucky 3, Long Beach State 2, NC State 1 and Oregon State 1.