BATON ROUGE — The No. 21 LSU softball team embarks on a five-game road trip with a weekend series at Mississippi State. First pitch for Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s single game is slated for 1 p.m.
The Tigers (17-6, 4-2 SEC) have won 11 of its last 13 games and are coming off a doubleheader sweep of No. 2 Alabama.
LSU overcame a four-run deficit in game two aided by a three-run double from Rachel Mitchell in the fifth inning. Kirsten Shortridge also provided a strong relief outing being touched up for only one run on three hits in four innings of work. It was her first pitching appearance since February 21 against UAB.
“It can turn into a disaster if you don’t come ready to play for every series in this league,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “This is a young team that is still learning every day. I’ve made sure to let them know that if they don’t come ready to play against Mississippi State, the wins they just had over Alabama won’t mean as much.”
The LSU offense is ignited by Shortridge and Jazz Jackson from the top two spots in the batting lineup. Shortridge has racked up 31 hits on a .388 average in addition to being 14-of-18 in the stolen base department, while Jackson is the only Tiger to record a hit in all six of LSU’s conference games en route to a .455 hitting clip in league games.
Juliana Santos, Mitchell and Ashley Langoni, the heart of the LSU lineup, have delivered a combined 42 RBIs, including 21 of the team’s 29 in SEC action. Nine of Langoni’s last 10 hits have produced runs.
Jessica Mouse anchors the bottom of the lineup and is hitting .361 in her last 15 games. The Tigers are 11-2 when Mouse bats ninth.
“We have to take this momentum with us and need to win on the road,” Shortridge said. “We have to play every game with the same kind of intensity that we did against Alabama. Every inning of every game counts in SEC play.”
In the circle, Cody Trahan has won six of her last seven starts after six no-decisions to start the season and is coming off an eight-strikeout performance where she limited Alabama to a pair of runs on six hits.
Brittany Mack looks to respond from a rough outing where she surrendered two, two-run homers in three innings against the Crimson Tide before getting relieved by Shortridge.
LSUSports.com will have live stats for all three games of the Mississippi State series. Fans can also follow the Tigers on Twitter.
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