BATON ROUGE — After moving up to No. 8 in both national polls, the LSU softball team will host No. 21 Mississippi State in an important Southeastern Conference divisional doubleheader at Tiger Park on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
As part of the “Take a Kid to the Game” promotion, youth admission is free to the doubleheader with the purchase of an adult ticket. Fans will also receive LSU softball trading cards. Both games will be broadcast in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM and also in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In addition, both games will have live stats available on LSUsports.net.
Last weekend, the Tigers (27-4, 6-0 SEC) swept Auburn at Tiger Park to remain undefeated in conference play. LSU easily won the first game, 8-1, before coming from behind to earn a walk-off win, 5-3, in 10 innings in the nightcap. In the series finale, the Tigers put an exclamation point on the weekend with a 10-0 run-rule victory.
“We want to continue with our recent good play,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We also hope that we will have a big crowd come out to support the Tigers since this team feeds off the enthusiasm and support of the fans. That was certainly the case last weekend, when the crowd definitely made a difference in the outcome of the series.”
LSU has now won 15 straight games, including sweeps of nationally ranked Georgia and Auburn. The Tigers have also won 18 of their last 19, with the lone loss to Penn State in the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge on March 1. LSU is now in the midst of a period of eight SEC games in only 10 days.
LSU currently leads the SEC Western Division, a half game ahead of Alabama in the standings, with the Crimson Tide holding a three-game lead in the win column and the Tigers holding a two-game advantage in the loss column. LSU is tied with Florida for the overall lead, but the Tigers lead the Gators in winning percentage.
“This is a very important mid-week series for us,” said Girouard. “First, this is a Western Division opponent, which always makes this a crucial series; and second, this is our last home conference series before we go on the road for our next eight SEC games against some very tough teams.”
Mississippi State enters the doubleheader having won four-straight contests, including a series sweep of Ole Miss last weekend. The winning streak snapped a five-game losing skid that including being swept by Alabama and dropping 2-of-3 at Auburn. The Bulldogs currently sit in fourth place in the SEC Western Division, three and a half games behind LSU.
Senior All-American Killian Roessner is hitting .348 for the season after leading the Tigers with a .556 average last weekend. The catcher also leads the team and is tied for the conference lead with nine home runs, the most of any season in her career. Roessner is tied for second in the SEC with 34 RBIs and has also posted eight doubles, ninth most in the conference.
In the second game against Auburn last weekend, she tied the game with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh before winning the game on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning. It marked Roessner’s second walk-off hit in less than seven days as she was responsible for LSU’s win over South Florida with a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the eighth.
Senior Shannon Stein continues to lead the Tigers at the plate for the season. The second baseman is hitting .402 with seven doubles, one home run, 14 RBIs and five stolen bases. Sophomore Rachel Mitchell is hitting .326 and has posted a team-high nine doubles, two triples, four home runs, 26 RBIs and leads the team with 25 runs scored.
Chelsea Bramlett leads the Bulldogs at the plate this season with a .426 average, one of three Mississippi State starters hitting over .300 for the year. In addition, Bramlett has recorded 17 RBIs, leads the Bulldogs with 30 runs scored and ranks second in the SEC with 28 stolen bases. Hayle Guess leads Mississippi State with five home runs and 27 RBIs, while Courtney Bures has recorded a team-best eight doubles.
As a team, the Tigers boast a .291 batting average, with four starters boasting averages over .300. LSU has also hit 44 doubles with four triples and 29 home runs. In 31 games, the Tigers are averaging 5.6 runs per game with 173 runs scored this season. In the field, LSU boasts a fielding percentage of .976, having committed only 20 errors in over 800 attempts.
The Bulldogs have recorded a .298 batting average for the season. Mississippi State leads the SEC with 12 triples, but ranks near the bottom of the league with only 12 home runs. The Bulldogs are averaging 5.1 runs per game and have recorded a .970 fielding percentage for the year.
LSU has already stolen 73 bases this season while only being caught seven times for a 91 percent success rate. Ranked third in the SEC as a team, the Tigers have recorded more steals this year than the 1997, 2002 and 2003 squads did in an entire season. Dee Dee Henderson leads the team with a 24-for-26 mark, while Jazz Jackson has stolen 13-of-13 and Mitchell is 9-for-9. Eleven Tigers have recorded at least one stolen base this season, including five players with five or more steals.
The Bulldogs rank just ahead of LSU with 79 stolen bases this season. However, Mississippi State has been caught stealing on 15 occasions, which ranks second in the conference, for a .840 success rate. Bramlett leads with 29 stolen bases, while Brittany Bell and Nakita Boyce have each stolen 12 bases and Guess has posted nine. Six Bulldogs have stolen at least seven bases this season.
Dani Hofer leads LSU and ranks third in the SEC with a 0.99 earned run average this season. With a 15-2 record, Hofer is tied for the second most wins by a pitcher this season. The junior has recorded 166 strikeouts, second most in the conference, in 20 appearances to average 11.0 strikeouts per seven innings. Hofer leads the league as opponents hit only .139 against her, surrendering only 51 hits in 106.0 innings. Last weekend, she went 3-0 and was named the SEC Pitcher of the Week.
Sophomore Cody Trahan is 9-1 on the year with a 1.65 earned run average. She boasts 81 strikeouts and two complete-game shutouts, while one-hitting nationally ranked Georgia in the first SEC series of the season. Also seeing time in the circle for the Tigers this season are freshman Casey Faile and senior Tiffany Garcia. Faile is 2-0 on the year with a 1.98 earned run average, while Garcia is 1-1 with a 4.67 earned run average.
Mississippi State has used only three pitchers this season, with two of the hurlers getting over 85 percent of the work. Kelsey Nurnberg leads the Bulldogs with a 13-4 record in 25 appearances while throwing a team-high 118.0 innings. Misty Flesher is 10-5 on the season with 82.1 innings of work, followed by Elizabeth Woolven’s 3-0 mark in only 34.2 innings.
The Tigers rank fourth in the SEC with a 1.62 earned run average. LSU has allowed only 129 hits in 216.0 innings on the season with opponents batting only .171 against them. The Tigers have held nine opponents scoreless and struck out 289, the second most in the SEC behind only Auburn.
As a team, Mississippi State ranks seventh in the SEC with a 1.85 team earned run average. The Bulldogs have recorded eight complete-game shutouts, while opponents are hitting .225 against them. Near the bottom of the conference in strikeouts, Mississippi State is averaging only 4.4 strikeouts per game and is second to last in the league.
LSU leads the overall series with the Bulldogs, 31-5, and have won six straight over Mississippi State. The Tigers are also 11-1 at Tiger Park, having won four straight at home. Last season, LSU earned a pair of extra-inning wins over the Bulldogs, winning 4-1 in nine innings and 4-3 in nine innings. This will be the first time the pair have played in Tiger Park since the Tigers swept Mississippi State during the 2004 season.
LSU will next take to the road to face top 10-ranked Florida in Gainesville. In the battle of the top two teams in the SEC so far this season, the Tigers will begin the series with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon CDT and conclude with a single game on Sunday at noon CDT.
SERIES FACTS
No. 8 LSU Tigers (27-4, 6-0 SEC) vs. No. 21 Mississippi State Bulldogs (26-9, 4-5 SEC)
DATE/TIME
Wednesday, March 26 ? 4 p.m. (DH)
STADIUM
Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, La.
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network (WNXX-FM, The X -104.5/104.9 in Baton Rouge)
INTERNET
Live audio and stats in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net
TV
None
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads 31-5