BATON ROUGE – Brittany Mack and Rachele Fico tossed a pair of complete game gems to lead the No. 16 LSU softball team to a day two sweep of Houston and Jacksonville State Saturday at the Tiger Invitational.
LSU (11-4) has won nine of its last 10 games highlighted by six straight. The Tigers have outscored their opponents by a margin 36-2.
Fico fanned a career-best 10 batters and turned in a dominant one-hitter as LSU disposed of Jacksonville State, 4-1.
“I was just mixing up pitches around the plate. I was working in; I was working out. I was changing planes with the rise ball, and I was mixing in a few off-speed pitches here and there,” Fico said. “We were just trying to keep their hitters off balance, and I think we did a good job of that today.”
The freshman from Oxford, Conn., retired the first 14 batters she faced before giving up a two-out home run to Kaycee Crow in the fifth inning. The run, which tied the game 1-1, marked the first time the Tigers had allowed an opposing team to score in 30.0 innings.
Fico responded by sitting down seven of the final eight batters she faced sparked by back-to-back strikeouts.
“I think that is what is going to make Rachele special down the line; she has a mental game,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “She’s not going to fall apart or anything like that. She’s going to live pitch to pitch, and she’s going to come back even stronger.”
With the score tied 1-1 in the sixth inning, Courtney Hollier drew a four-pitch leadoff walk. She moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score the go-ahead run on a Lauren Houston RBI-single. An 11-pitch walk from Jessica Mouse put runners on first and second.
Kirsten Shortridge delivered a two-run double to push the LSU advantage to 4-1.
“Once again we had fabulous pitching and timely hitting,” said Girouard. “Certainly, we would like to get a little more hitting, but we had timely hitting and great defense. We’ve just got to keep playing well.”
Houston’s two hits were the first multi-hit game of her career, while Shortridge extended her hitting streak to five games. Anissa Young opened the scoring with a RBI-double in the first inning that increased her team-leading total to five on the year.
“Coach Girouard always stresses that we have to start hitting,” said Houston. “That can be contagious. All we do is work hard in the cages, and when I get that chance, I have to get it done, or someone else is going to have to do it for me.”
In their earlier game, LSU used two first-inning runs and a three-hit complete game shutout by Mack to knock off Houston, 2-0.
“We’ve got to get her started a little bit, but once she gets in that groove, she’s awfully funky, and she can drive teams crazy,” said Girouard. “I’ll tell you; she always throws well against Texas teams.”
The Tigers capitalized early as Shortridge led off the frame with an infield single. After stealing second base, Shortridge advanced to third on a passed ball. Ashley Applegate connected on an RBI-single to right field to plate Shortridge.
LSU loaded the bases on an Ashley Langoni and scored two batters later when Allison Falcon was hit-by-a-pitch to put the Tigers ahead 2-0. That would be all the run support Mack would need as the Round Rock, Texas product struck out six and retired 13 of her last 15 hitters to move to 3-2 on the season.
LSU concludes the Tiger Invitational Sunday against Houston and Jacksonville State. First pitch against UH is slated for 12:30 p.m. followed by a 3 p.m. tilt versus JSU.
“We have really good momentum going all the way right now,” Houston said. “Our hitting is finally coming together after all of our hard work in the spring. It’s really hard playing the same teams over and over again, but you just start at the beginning and bury them after the first inning, and there’s no way that they can beat you.”
Fans can follow every game of the Tiger Invitational via live stats on LSUsports.net in addition to live in-games updates on www.twitter.com/lsu_softball.
LSU vs. Jacksonville State
February 27, 2010
LSU HEAD COACH YVETTE GIROUARD
On the wins against Houston and Jacksonville State…
“Well, once again we had fabulous pitching and timely hitting. Certainly, we would like to get a little more hitting, but we had timely hitting and great defense. We’ve just got to keep playing well.”
On pitcher Rachele Fico’s performance…
“I think that is what is going to make her special down the line; she has a mental game. She’s not going to fall apart or anything like that. She’s going to live pitch to pitch, and she’s going to come back even stronger.”
On LSU’s three-run sixth inning…
“We were talking the entire game that we needed to make things happen. We weren’t and kind of lulling around. We just needed something to happen and string together some good things, and whatever happens, don’t be an inning-buster. Be a positive in the inning.”
On catcher Lauren Houston…
“She swings the bat hard, and usually when you swing the bat hard, good things are going to happen, and she swings. She had a good week of batting practice, and we were hoping that it would pay off for her in a game.”
On pitcher Brittany Mack’s performance against Houston…
“We’ve got to get her started a little bit or give her a nudge, but once she gets in that groove, she’s awfully funky, and she can drive teams crazy. I’ll tell you; she always throws well against Texas teams.”
On how important it would be to finish this weekend undefeated tomorrow…
“These are some good RPI teams. These teams sit in the high statistical ranks. They are good pitching and good fundamental teams and very well-coached teams, so it’s good competition.”
On Fico bouncing back after giving up a solo home run…
“She’s learning. She’ll have to learn that every pitch has a life of its own. She’s got to keep the ball in the ball park, and when she does that, she will get the ‘no-nos’ (no hitters).”
On if she is looking for consistency with her lineup…
“It’s nice to be able to give people their legs back, but the one that swings the bat and hits is the one who is going to play.”
LSU PITCHER RACHELE FICO
On what worked for her today…
“I was just mixing up pitches around the plate. I was working in; I was working out. I was changing planes with the rise ball, and I was mixing in a few off-speed pitches here and there. We were just trying to keep their hitters off balance, and I think we did a good job of that today.”
On how much knowing that she is keeping opposing batters hitless is in her head when she’s in the circle…
“I’m just trying to take it one batter at a time and one pitch at a time. She (Kaycee Crow) got a great piece of the ball and hit a home run. I just had to put it behind me. I just had to forget it ever happened and move on to the next batter.”
On having confidence in the LSU offense to come through in the end…
“Whenever we are put in a situation like that, the offense always gets fired up, and they start stringing hits together. That’s exactly what they did in the next inning. They came up big.”
On what the team needs to do to keep playing well…
“We need to continue what we’ve been doing. We need to play the entire game and go at it with the same enthusiasm in all seven innings. We need to finish complete games.”
LSU CATCHER LAUREN HOUSTON
On being able to perform when she gets a chance to get in the lineup…
“Coach Girouard always stresses that we have to start hitting. That can be contagious. All we do is work hard in the cages, and when I get that chance, I have to get it done, or someone else is going to have to do it for me.”
On pitcher Rachele Fico’s performance…
“Some umpires are tighter than normal, so I just went out there and told her that he’s not giving much on that corner, so we just have to work a little bit harder. She has the most confidence in the world, and I have the most confidence in the world in her. I knew she was going to find a way to send the batters back to their bench in the dugout.”
On facing the same two teams tomorrow and keeping the momentum going…
“We have really good momentum going all the way right now. Our hitting is finally coming together after all of our hard work in the spring. It’s really hard playing the same teams over and over again, but you just start at the beginning and bury them after the first inning, and there’s no way that they can beat you.”