CLEARWATER, Fla. — Having won eight-straight games, the 10th-ranked LSU softball team takes a break from Southeastern Conference play to participate in the USF Under Armour Showcase at the Eddie C. Moore Softball Complex this weekend.
The Tigers (20-4) will begin play on Friday against Fordham at 10 a.m. CDT, before facing Oklahoma State at noon CDT. Play will continue on Saturday as LSU takes on Purdue at Noon CDT then concludes pool play against tournament host South Florida at 3 p.m. CDT. Once all pool play has been completed on Saturday, the brackets will be set for action on Sunday.
“We are really looking forward to playing in the nice, warm sunshine of Florida this weekend,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “These are teams that we don’t normally have a chance to see, so it will be good to see some different opponents. Hopefully we can continue with our recent good play throughout the weekend.”
The Under Armour Showcase is the second tournament of the 2008 USF Under Armour Series, which included the Under Armour Invitational last weekend. There are 20 teams participating in this weekend’s tournament, including previous 2008 Tiger opponents Penn State and Chattanooga.
The Tampa/Clearwater area is the home to two current Tiger softball players. Junior pitcher Dani Hofer grew up in nearby Safety Harbor, Fla., which is just across Tampa Bay from downtown Tampa and less than 10 miles east of the Moore Softball Complex in Clearwater. The 2005 Gatorade National High School Player of the Year, Hofer was named Miss Florida Softball Player of the Year and led Palm Harbor High School to back-to-back state championships in 2004 and 2005.
“We have been trying to go to this tournament in Florida for some time,” said Girouard. “This was Dani’s home, so it’s nice to be going there for her to play so close to her hometown.”
Freshman third baseman Jessica Mouse also graduated from a Tampa-area high school after moving to the sunshine state before her junior year in high school. Mouse was named the Tampa Tribune Softball Player of the Year as a senior and led Chamberlain High School to the Florida state semi-finals as a junior.
In the Tigers’ most recent outing last Tuesday, LSU earned a 7-6 marathon win over Troy at Tiger Park in 11 innings. Shannon Stein came in off the bench and provided a walk-off single that scored Killian Roessner from third for the game winner. Roessner led the Tigers at the plate in the game with a 3-for-4 performance. With a single, double and home run, the senior All-American finished only a triple short of the cycle while knocking in two and scoring twice.
Dee Dee Henderson also posted three hits on the day, going 3-for-5 with a stolen base and one run scored. Tayl’r Hollis added two RBIs in a 1-for-5 performance with a double and run scored. Duhon, Jazz Jackson and Ashley Applegate each had a pair of hits on the night with Quinlan Duhon recording a double and a stolen base and Jackson adding a stolen base.
Cody Trahan came on in the sixth inning and allowed only one hit in the final five and a third innings to earn the win. Improving to 7-1 on the season, the sophomore faced the minimum and struck out nine of the 16 batters she faced.
The walk-off single was the latest achievement in what has turned into an outstanding senior campaign for Stein. The Upland, Calif., native leads the Tigers at the plate for the year, hitting .443 with six doubles, one home run, 13 RBIs, five stolen bases and 14 runs scored.
Rachel Mitchell improved to second on the team with a .315 average, including six doubles, two triples and three home runs. The MVP of the 2007 NCAA Palo Alto Regional has also recorded 18 RBIs and scored a team-leading 20 runs with nine stolen bases. Roessner leads LSU with seven home runs and 24 RBIs, followed by Hollis with 23 RBIs. Henderson boasts a team-best 18 stolen bases and needs only four more steals to record become only the second Tiger in school history to record 100 stolen bases.
As a team for the season, the Tigers boast a .293 batting average, with five starters boasting averages over .300. LSU has also hit 36 doubles with three triples and 25 home runs. In 24 games, the Tigers have scored 134 runs and stolen 63 of 66 bases. In the field, LSU boast a fielding percentage of .973.
In the circle, LSU has a team 1.84 earned run average with 218 strikeouts and six shutouts. Hofer leads the starters with a 1.23 earned run average and a 6-1 record. The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week after recording a pair of wins over nationally ranked Georgia last week, Hofer has struck out 114 this season and opponents are hitting only .128 against her.
Trahan is 7-1 on the season after earning the win against the Trojans on Tuesday. The sophomore has a 1.83 earned run average with 63 strikeouts and two complete-game shutouts. Freshman Casey Faile is 2-0 on the year with a 1.62 earned run average and 32 strikeouts in 26 innings, while senior Tiffany Garcia is 1-1 with a 4.67 earned run average.
Fordham enter the tournament at 7-12 on the season. The Rams dropped two games on Wednesday against Radford and Penn State and have now lost three straight and four of their last six. This will be the first meeting between LSU and Fordham. The Tigers are 3-1 all-time against Atlantic 10 opponents, with a 2-1 record against Massachusetts and a 1-0 record against Rhode Island. The SEC is 1-0 against Fordham this season as Mississippi State defeated the Rams, 6-5, in eight innings in the Bulldog Round Robin in Starkville, Miss.
Oklahoma State comes into the weekend at 13-11 on the year. The Cowgirls won three of four in the Mizuno Classic at home last weekend to claim the tournament title. This will be the first meeting between LSU and Oklahoma State. The Tigers are 20-4 all-time against Big 12 opponents. The SEC is 2-0 against Oklahoma State this season as Arkansas defeated the Cowgirls, 4-3 and 3-2 in nine innings, in the Century Bank Classic in Texarkana, Ark.
The Boilermakers of Purdue are 17-6 this season and have won five straight and seven of their last eight. This will be the first meeting between LSU and Purdue. The Tigers are 14-7 all-time against Big Ten opponents. However, LSU is 0-2 this season against Big Ten opponents, falling to Northwestern, 4-6, at the Palm Springs Classic, and 0-3 to Penn State at the Purple & Gold Challenge.
Tournament host South Florida enters the weekend at 19-8 on the year and have won nine straight. The Bulls have been among the teams receiving votes in the last two weeks of the NFCA poll. LSU leads the all-time series against the Bulls, 2-0. The Tigers took both games in back-to-back games as part of the Texas Invitational in Austin in 2000. The Tigers are 7-3 all-time against Big East opponents. LSU is 1-0 this season against Big East opponents, defeating St. John’s 14-0 in the season opener in the Tiger Classic.
The Tigers will return to conference play next week. LSU will host Auburn in a three-game series at Tiger Park. Due to Easter Sunday, the series will be played on Friday and Saturday. The Tigers will square off on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. before concluding the series with a single game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
All three games of the series will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM and in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In addition, the final game of the series will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.