BATON ROUGE — The No. 22 LSU softball team hits the road for a mid-week contest against Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday at North Oak Park.
The Tigers (6-4) have won 11 of the 12 meetings against the Lions in the all-time series.
“It’s a huge game anytime we play on the road against an in-state school,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “We’ve talked to the team countless times this week about focusing, and we’ll have to be focused Wednesday to be successful.”
The LSU offense is headlined by Kirsten Shortridge, who is hitting .378 from the leadoff spot. She has produced four multi-hit efforts and hit safely in eight of 10 games. Rachel Mitchell, Ashley Applegate, Juliana Santos and Anissa Young have combined for 19 of the team’s 27 RBIs.
In the circle, Brittany Mack has racked up 37 strikeouts over 26.1 innings. Casey Faile has jumped out to a 3-1 record, while Cody Trahan leads the staff with a 1.19 ERA
Girouard also met with the media Tuesday at Walk-On’s Bistreaux. Below are quotes from the session.
First pitch against the Lions is slated for 5:30 p.m. and live stats are available on LSUsports.net. LSU returns to the New Tiger Park to play host to Northern Iowa, Texas State and UAB for the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge this weekend.
Walk-On’s Press Conference
February 17, 2009
SOFTBALL HEAD COACH YVETTE GIROUARD
Opening Statement
“First, I’d like to thank everybody that did come out to opening night. It was magical. It was everything that I had ever envisioned opening night could be. Special thanks to all the media that showed up, but especially to the family of LSU and [baseball coach] Paul Mainieri for bringing his whole team out there and starting the tradition of going out to the [outfield] berm. I asked Paul to show up and he said not only would he show up but he would delay practice and bring his whole team out there. I’d asked [football coach] Les Miles to show up, and he did. And, of course, I’d like to thank all the women’s coaches who came and threw out the first pitch. They did such a great job. The stadium, as I said before, is incredible. It’s not finished yet. We have landscaping to come. The clubhouse is still moving in as we speak. We couldn’t be happier with things out there.
“The team is kind of like I predicted. It’s not a big surprise to me. In some areas, I think we’re so close to being really, really good and there’s other times when I think ?How could we have done what we did’.
“[Pitcher] Brittany Mack has emerged to be someone who will a great career at LSU and is progressing rapidly. At the end of practice, we practice the intentional walk. She threw a wild pitch but then came back to strike out the next batter.
“We get the best and worst of both worlds. In softball/baseball, the softball gods giveth and the softball gods taketh away, but that evens out over the season. We’re getting some calls that win us some games, and we’re not getting some calls that directly affect our games.
“I think we’re so close sometimes to being really good. Some kids are about to break through. They’re swinging the bat. That’s been a disappointment. We haven’t hit the ball like I thought we would. We’re getting people on-base, but we can’t drive them in. We’ve got some great wins so far. We have some losses that we shouldn’t have. The UAB loss got away from us. The Sam Houston game got away from us. If you don’t touch the plate, you can never win.
“We play Southeastern Louisiana tomorrow night weather permitting. We need to play that game for many reasons. Every game counts. I’m not going to say I’m not disappointed. I am in some things, but I am very optimistic about this team and its future. I think we’re just inches away from being really good.”
On Brittany Mack
“She’s phenomenal, but she is one of those that need to step up in prime time situations. She’s left some people on base. She’s hit the ball as hard as she possibly can.”
On Kirsten Shortridge
“It’s an unfortunate situation where she came in with surgery this summer. I haven’t been able to spend a lot of time with her in the bullpen. Right now she throws about four innings and she’s done. She’s a unique situation and one of a kind. She can do anything that can be done on the softball field. Hopefully as the season progress we can build up that stamina and get better in the bullpen.”