THIBODAUX, La. — Despite winning the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge, the LSU softball team slipped three spots in the NFCA/USA Today poll to come in at No. 12 this week, while remaining at No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Softball poll, as the Tigers prepare to travel to Thibodaux for a mid-week match-up with Nicholls State at 6 p.m. at the Colonel Softball Diamond.
Southeastern Conference rival Alabama slipped from No. 1 in both polls to No. 2 in the NFCA poll and No. 3 in the ESPN poll. Both Tennessee and Florida remained in the top 10 in both polls, while Mississippi State and Georgia are ranked in the top 20. With six programs ranked in the poll, the league boasts the most nationally ranked teams of any conference in the nation.
LSU (15-4) has now been ranked for 33 straight weeks in the NFCA poll and has been among the nationally ranked teams in 137 of the 157 polls (.867) that have been released since the LSU program was reinstated in 1997. Since ESPN began its softball poll on Feb. 25, 2003, LSU has been ranked in 73 of the 82 polls (.890).
The Tigers went 5-1 last weekend to claim their eighth-straight Purple & Gold Challenge title. LSU knocked off Southern Miss and Tulsa and South Alabama twice. The Tigers’ only loss was to Penn State, which was defeated in the first bracket game on Sunday. LSU went on to defeat the Golden Hurricane in the championship game.
Nicholls State sits at 7-11 going into a doubleheader with Louisiana-Lafayette on Wednesday. The Lady Colonels snapped a four-game losing skid with a win over Texas-Arlington on Sunday. Earlier this season, the Tigers defeated Nicholls State twice at Tiger Park in the Easton Tiger Classic, 9-1 in six innings, and 9-2 in the championship game.
“Luckily we’re not playing tonight, because it’s pretty gold out there and hopefully it will warm up a little bit tomorrow night,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “It’s always a tough place to play. They usually have their football team out there waiting for us and they are very vocal. “
LSU is 107-5 (.955) all-time against in-state schools. The Tigers had their 55-game winning streak snapped on April 25, 2007, at Southeastern Louisiana, after not having lost to a Louisiana school since an April 18, 2001 loss to UL-Lafayette, 2-1. LSU’s only losses to in-state schools have come to UL-Lafayette, Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State.
“The players understand what these in-state games mean,” said Girouard. “We have pointed out to them numerous times that the NCAA Committee used the Southeastern loss at the end of last season to keep us out of the one of the top eight national seeds. They understand that every game is very important.”
In the 14 meetings, the Tigers have recorded a 13-1 all-time mark, including a 9-1 record in Baton Rouge and a 4-0 record in Thibodaux. The Tigers lost the first meeting, 3-0, in 1998, but have won the last 13 meetings since. Head coach Yvette Girouard is 70-19 all-time against Nicholls, including a 12-0 record at LSU.
Cody Trahan earned the win in the first meeting with the Lady Colonels this season, as LSU set a new school record with 10 stolen bases. In addition, the Tigers got home runs from Quinlan Duhon, Erika Sluss and Shannon Stein. In the last meeting, Dani Hofer earned the win while LSU posted four doubles and a triple with four stolen bases.
Stein leads the Tigers at the plate for the season with a .423 batting average. The senior co-captain also boasts a team-best five doubles with 11 RBIs and five stolen bases. Tayl’r Hollis, the Most Valuable Player of the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge, is hitting.373 on the season with five home runs, four doubles, a triple and 21 RBIs. Rachel Mitchell has scored a team-high 17 runs, while Dee Dee Henderson leads the Tigers with 15 stolen bases in 15 attempts.
As a team, the Tigers boast a .300 batting average, with five starters boasting averages over .300. LSU has also hit 27 doubles with three triples and 20 home runs. In 19 games, the Tigers have scored 110 runs and stolen 52 of 55 bases. In the field, LSU has recorded only 11 errors and the Tigers boast a fielding percentage of .977.
In the circle, LSU has a team 2.02 earned run average with four shutouts and 168 strikeouts. Hofer leads the starters with a 1.40 earned run average and an 8-2 record with 93 strikeouts in only 60 innings of work. Trahan is 5-1 on the season with a 2.50 earned run average, followed by Tiffany Garcia at 1-1 with a 4.02 earned run average and Casey Faile at 1-0 with a 1.34 ERA.
Kathryn Harrell leads Nicholls state at the plate with a .491 batting average, while recording four doubles, three triples, a home run and 11 RBIs. Amy Thibodeaux leads the Lady Colonels with seven of the team’s nine total home runs and boasts a team-high 17 RBIs. As a team, Nicholls State is hitting .257 on the season with 21 doubles, three RBIs and nine home runs. In 18 games, the Lady Colonels have scored 68 runs, while stealing 16 of 20 bases with a fielding percentage of .963.
In the circle, Krystal Ensminger leads Nicholls with a 3-5 record in 10 appearances, while posting a 5.25 earned run average and 17 strikeouts. Audrey Wood is 2-1 on the year with a team-best 2.30 earned run average, followed by Jessica Barksdale at 0-3 with a 4.07 ERA and a team-high 21 strikeouts. Lacey Gros is 2-2 on the season with a 4.20 earned run average and 20 strikeouts. As a team, the Lady Colonels have a 4.08 earned run average with 68 strikeouts.
This weekend, the Tigers will open defense of their 2007 Southeastern Conference Western Division title as LSU hosts nationally ranked Georgia in a three-game series at Tiger Park. The series begins on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. and concludes with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. Fans wearing gold on Saturday will get in for FREE. Saturday’s first game will also be televised regionally on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.
GAME FACTS: No. 12 LSU Tigers (15-4) vs. Nicholls State Lady Colonels (7-11)
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, March 5 – 6 p.m.
RANKINGS : LSU (#12 NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, #12 ESPN/USA Softball Poll)
Nicholls State (Not Ranked)
STADIUM: Colonel Softball Diamond (500)
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.
Arizona State (9)
21-1
645
2.
Alabama (10)
17-1
633
3.
Texas A&M (4)
22-3
619
4.
Tennessee (1)
19-1
594
5.
Florida (3)
24-1
585
6.
UCLA
19-2
540
7.
Arizona
11-4
476
8.
Northwestern
9-3
474
9.
Stanford
20-2
449
10.
Michigan
16-2
442
11.
Oklahoma
17-4
433
12.
LSU
15-4
403
13.
Baylor
13-3
357
14.
Houston
16-0
315
15.
Hawai’i
13-4
247
16.
DePaul
11-5
222
17.
Georgia
17-5
214
18.
UL-Lafayette
10-3
209
19.
Mississippi State
16-4
179
20.
Ohio State
11-4
154
21.
San Diego State
16-5
138
22.
Washington
11-5-1
98
23.
Fresno State
15-3
80
24.
Virginia Tech
12-6
69
25.
Maryland
13-1
55
Others Receiving Votes: North Carolina 38, Texas 27, Cal State Fullerton 21, California 12, Long Beach State 12, Arkansas 9, Iowa 8, Kansas 7, UNLV 3, UMass 3, Colorado State 2, Iowa State 1, Texas State 1, South Florida 1
ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 Poll
Rank
Team
Record
Points
1.
Arizona State (10)
21-1
486
2.
UCLA (4)
18-2
470
3.
Alabama (4)
17-1
458
4.
Texas A&M
20-3
443
5
Florida (2)
24-1
404
6
Tennessee
19-1
401
7.
Stanford
19-2
356
8.
Northwestern
10-3
350
9.
Oklahoma
16-4
349
10.
Arizona
11-4
338
11.
Michigan
17-2
321
12.
LSU
14-4
268
13.
Baylor
12-3
260
14.
Hawai’i
13-5
197
15.
Houston
14-2
180
16.
Georgia
17-5
172
17.
San Diego State
15-5
160
18.
Mississippi State
16-4
156
19.
DePaul
12-5
148
20.
UL-Lafayette
10-3
139
21.
Fresno State
13-3
112
22.
Ohio State
11-4
89
23.
Maryland
11-1
37
24.
Washington
10-6-1
35
25.
Virginia Tech
12-6
33
Others receiving votes: Texas 28, Cal State Fullerton 23, Long Beach State 14, California 13, UMass 13, Kansas 11, UNLV 11, Missouri 10, Arkansas 6, North Carolina 5, Colorado State 2 and Wichita State 2.