LSU, ULL Win on Day 1 of NCAA Softball Regional
Game 2: LSU def. McNeese St., 6-0
BATON ROUGE – The No. 12 national seed LSU softball team used a four-run second inning coupled with stellar pitching efforts from Rachele Fico and Kirsten Shortridge en route to a 6-0 victory over McNeese State to open the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Friday at Tiger Park in-front of a season-best 1,905 fans.
The Tigers (45-14) advance to face Louisiana-Lafayette (43-16) in a winner’s bracket game at 12 p.m. and improved to 12-0 in NCAA Regional openers. The 1,905 fans are the third-highest in program history. McNeese State (38-26) faces Texas A&M (43-15) in an elimination game at 3 p.m.
“It’s always good to get that opening win. I thought we made some adjustments on the mound which we didn’t do the last time we played McNeese State,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “We were really focused and energized. I thought Rachele [Fico] pitched exceptionally well. We wanted to give Kirsten [Shortridge] some innings on the mound because we feel like we might have to use her this weekend. I thought that was the appropriate time to bring her in.”
Jessica Mouse fueled the offense with a 3-for-3 performance and a RBI to go along with two runs from the No. 9 hole of the lineup, while Kirsten Shortridge and Ashley Langoni provided a pair of RBIs.
LSU erupted for a quartet of runs in the second inning as Anissa Young was hit-by-a-pitch to open the frame. After pinch runner Tiffany Shaw picked up a stolen base of second, Juliana Santos cranked a RBI-double to left field to put the Tigers on the board.
Santos swiped third and three batters later, Mouse hustled down the line for an infield single which allowed Santos to cross the plate to make it 2-0. Shortridge connected for her third home run of the postseason and belted a 2-2 offering over the left field fence to push the LSU advantage to 4-0.
“I just batted aggressively,” Shortridge said. “I had two strikes on me, and I was trying to battle. My swing is really coming around, and I’ve swung [away] more during the postseason than I did in the regular season.”
That would be more than enough run support for Rachele Fico, who tossed five spotless innings of three-hit ball in her NCAA postseason debut. The Connecticut native recorded eight strikeouts against one walk to improve to 20-5 on the season.
“I thought the crowd was great. I thought we came out and played really hard,” Fico said. “We lost to McNeese State earlier in the season, so we wanted to come out strong today and get the win. We scored in the early innings which really helped. It set the tempo for the rest of the game. Being in front of our own crowd and hosting this regional really gave us a home field advantage. It’s a great field.”
She gave way to Shortridge, who made her first appearance in the circle since April 3. She worked around a trio of walks and a bases loaded jam during the sixth inning after receiving a fully extended basket catch from Santos at second base in addition to a grounder to Young to get out of the jam.
The Tigers tacked on two insurance runs in the home half of the frame. Mouse and Applegate set the table for Langoni, who ripped a two-run double into the left centerfield gap for the final margin of 6-0.
Meagan Bond was tagged with the loss for the Cowgirls and fell to 22-11. She surrendered four runs on three hits over two innings of work
All games from the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional will have live video and live stats in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net with Kent Lowe anchoring the coverage. Fans also can listen to LSU’s games live on ESPN 104.5 and The X 104.9 FM in the Baton Rouge area with Patrick Wright set to call the action. In-game updates via http://twitter.com/lsu_softball.
Tickets are still available for all three of Saturday’s contest and can be purchased in person at the Tiger Park Ticket Trailer which opens at 10 a.m. followed by the stadium gates opening 30 minutes later.
NCAA Softball Regional – Baton Rouge, La.
May 21, 2010
LSU vs. McNeese State
LSU Head Coach Yvette Giraourd
Opening statement…
“It’s always good to get that opening win. I thought we made some adjustments on the mound which we didn’t do the last time we played McNeese St. We were really focused and energized. I thought Rachele (Fico) pitched exceptionally well. We wanted to give Kirsten (Shortridge) some innings on the mound because we feel like we might have to use her this weekend. I thought that was the appropriate time to bring her in.”
On production from the nine-hole…
“It’s monumental. We’ve relied so heavily on certain players all year. (Jessica) Mouse came up and was fantastic. She was fantastic in the Kentucky series and was SEC Player of the Week. Any production we can is just awesome.”
On McNeese State’s response to Tiger Park’s atmosphere tonight…
“I think the world of Natalie (Poole), and I thought she made an awesome statement. She said that her team might get beat because of skill or talent level, but they would not be intimidated. We have a lot of respect for McNeese St., and I think we just made things happen. I don’t think it was anything they did. They didn’t have a lot of errors or anything. We just made things happen.”
On key to defeating Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday…
“We have to score runs. I think that we will play very good defense. I think we’ll pitch well. We have to score runs.”
On keeping shutout in sixth inning when McNeese St. had bases loaded…
“I thought it was awesome. The middle infielders had come in and I had just told them to back up. It was awesome.”
CF/P Kirsten Shortridge
On playing outfield then moving to the pitcher position…
“It’s not very difficult. I just have to judge the innings that’s coming up and where we are in the lineup. I balance it from that.
On hitting third postseason homer in the second inning…
“I just batted aggressively. I had two strikes on me, and I was trying to battle. My swing is really coming around, and I’ve swung more in the postseason than I did in the regular season.”
On playing McNeese St. for the second time this season…
“McNeese is a very scrappy team. We did lose to them. With having three in-state schools in this regional, every team has a huge target on its back. When we’re not playing against each other, I feel like we all want Louisiana teams to win. We have to keep up with our game and realizing we’re all a target for each other, and right now, it is war.”
On competing against Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday in the winners’ bracket game…
“The environment has been absolutely crazy. To me, it’s like playing Georgia. There was a lot of red in the stands and a lot of intensity in that series. We’re going to see a lot of purple and gold tomorrow, and we will outnumber ULL.”
“There will be no trash talking tomorrow. It’s all fun and games, but it is a battle. We’re focusing on the name that’s across our chest because when we lose we beat ourselves. They don’t beat us.”
On pitching her first NCAA Regional game…
“I thought the crowd was great. I thought we came out and played really hard. We lost to McNeese St. earlier in the season, so we wanted to come out strong today and get the win. We scored in the early innings which really helped. It set the tempo for the rest of the game. Being in front of our own crowd and hosting this regional really gave us a home field advantage. It’s a great field.”
On tomorrow’s game against Louisiana-Lafayette…
“It’s going to be a great game tomorrow. We have to be focused on every single pitch, every single play. We always have to be ready. We have to be on top of our game. We have a huge target on our backs. We’re playing a great team. We’re going to have to stay focused mentally and physically and come in tomorrow and get the job done.”
On the feeling of playing softball in Tiger Park…
“Every time I step on the field in Tiger Park it’s a great feeling. I’m so proud to wear my LSU jersey and play for the team that’s written across my chest. Everyone on the team takes great pride in our program, and we know it’s a privilege to be here. We don’t take that for granted, and we play every game hard and give it our all.”
HEAD COACH NATALIE POOLE QUOTES
Opening Statement …
“First of all, I’d like to say we came out strong and ready to play the way we played LSU last time. It wasn’t going to be easy, but we felt if we pitched well, played good defense and could string some hits together, we’d be fine. We struggled a little bit defensively. I felt like Meagan (Bond) pitched OK, but she struggled a bit earlier in the game, so we made an early change. I felt like we struggled to string some hits together. We were able to get some people on, but we definitely missed some opportunities. Some good defensive plays by LSU players kept us from scoring, and four hits definitely was not good enough for us to outplay or outscore them.”
On Kayla Shepherd’s relief…
“I felt confident going out with Meagan. I thought she would do a good job for us. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. I felt confident that if we needed to go to Kayla, she would do the job. She did for five innings. We didn’t stand strong defensively, and it just got away from us a little bit. I thought we could have gotten out of there without them scoring the additional two runs, but I thought she did a good job of keeping the ball down and making them chase some pitches out of the zone. “
On how she feels they played LSU …
“We knew we were seeing their best. I have to say I feel good about the fact they threw their No. 1 pitcher (Rachele Fico) against us, and she was their pitcher with the best numbers. They were definitely thinking about this one game at a time. She averages about one strikeout per inning and she doesn’t walk a lot of kids. I knew she was going to come right at us. She did a good job of working when ahead and getting people to chase out of the zone. She had three strikeouts in the first inning. I felt like we made the adjustment in the second inning, and we came close to scoring. We just weren’t able to string those hits together. It is always an advantage to get on the board first, and they jumped on it. They did a good job of scoring right away, and I respect that as a coach.”
On what was different from playing LSU earlier in the year …
“I feel like at times, we played timidly. I felt at times we let the umpiring get the best of us, and at times, I felt like we just didn’t play our game. Coming into this tournament, we had two errors in four games. We let the defensive game get away from us, and all that is squaring up our shoulder to our target until we make our throw. We are capable of doing that. I thought we made adjustments at the plate, and we were very aggressive. We understood what we were facing. For us, I watched Texas A&M play earlier and make mistakes on the field. I feel like if we put some pressure on them, they are capable of making mistakes. We have to come out ready to make adjustments at the plate and play a better defensive game.”
On LSU’s pitching staff …
“We’ve seen everyone this year. We had not seen Kirsten Shortridge, but she’s only thrown about 30 innings anyway. I actually thought they might throw her though. We hit a two-run homer off of Cody Trahan earlier this year, even though they beat us. Rachele Fico came in, but we scored against her. They did their job in going out with their No. 1, and that’s the way they should have approached it. I thought they approached it right. We just didn’t play our game the way we did a week ago. We are capable of it, but we have to focus a little bit harder, make a few adjustments and we could be on the winning end.”
On how she feels her team prepared for the game …
“We came out loose today. Not one of these girls was on the team that went to the NCAA Tournament in 2005, so a lot of them could have been anxious, nervous or reserved. I didn’t feel like we had any problems in the way we approached practice warming up in the bullpen or cages. They adjusted well to how they needed to warm up in championship play. We just didn’t play the way we should have. We did not concentrate on our skill. We continued to fight to get runners on base, but we just didn’t push them across.”
MCNEESE PLAYER QUOTES
P Meagan Bond
On overcoming the loss …
“I just have to let it go. I have a hard time sometimes of that, but I have to let it go. Tomorrow is a new day. We are going to come back and it’s a new game.”
On how she feels she pitched against LSU …
“I feel like they capitalized on my mistakes and my flat pitches. I just have to come back and pitch how I know I can pitch.”
1B Heather Mosser
On how she feels one loss away from McNeese’s season ending …
“This whole season has been up and down. We don’t have anything to lose. If we lose tomorrow, we go home, but we are playing as if we have nothing to lose. We are going to play the best we can. We will either walk away with a win or with our heads held high either way.”
On if she thought her hit was a homerun …
“I thought I had it, and I thought it was going to go down. We were going to score, and I think that if we could have gotten just one run this game would have been very different. It would have started a fire in the dugout.”
Game 1 Recap: UL-Lafayette def. Texas A&M, 5-0
BATON ROUGE — No. 3 seed Louisiana-Lafayette defeated No. 2 seed Texas A&M by a score of 5-0 in the opening game of the NCAA Baton Rouge regional at Tiger Park.
The Cajuns stunned the 20th-ranked Aggies when Gabriele Bridges launched a two-run home run in the first inning off pitcher Melissa Dumezich. The Aggies were unable to generate any offense against Louisiana-Lafayette pitcher Brittany Cuevas, who worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and held the Aggies to no runs and only five hits.
Texas A&M struggled defensively, committing three errors that resulted in two unearned runs. The Cajuns took advantage, adding runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to provide the final 5-0 margin.
Louisiana-Lafayette (43-16) will return to the field at noon Saturday to play the winner of the Friday night matchup between host LSU and McNeese State.
Texas A&M (42-15) will play in an elimination game Saturday at 3 p.m. against the loser of Friday’s second game.
NCAA Division I Softball Tournament
Baton Rouge Regional
Texas A&M vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
May 21, 2010
TEXAS A&M POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jo Evans
Opening statement…
“I’m clearly disappointed in the way our team played today. Defensively, we did not take care of the ball. We easily could have had five or six errors on the board, from my perspective. We threw one flat pitch to [Gabriele] Bridges there and gave up a home run. If you take care of the ball and catch the ball in centerfield that we dropped prior, she hits a solo home run and going into the late innings it’s a one-run game as opposed to a five-run game. We really put ourselves at a disadvantage. I thought Mel Dumezich, aside from the one pitch she threw to the four-hole hitter in the first inning, threw really well. Offensively, I don’t think we did a good job of making adjustments at the plate. Brittany [Cuevas] was throwing a lot of screwballs for strikes, and we need to be more aggressive and hit that pitch. ULL went out and did what they needed to do.
On her team not looking like its normal self today…
“I just feel like we were back on our heels right from the get-go and a little apprehensive and tentative. Mel’s right, when you get a crowd like this, it’s like playing two teams at home. When you play LSU, it’s going to be home field advantage and when you play ULL, it’s going to be the same thing. I thought ULL really fed off the crowd and did a great job with that.”
On the team’s level of experience…
“Clearly, we need to be more mature. After the game I challenged our seniors, and I think they know where I’m coming from, and said ‘You guys have been here before. You’ve played in two College World Series. We need you to go out there and set the tone for our team.’ I challenged them, I think they’re mature enough to handle it, and I think we’ll come out tomorrow and rally our team to get us where we need to be.”
Shortstop Macie Morrow
On the reason for the Aggies’ three fielding errors today…
“It’s nothing I can pinpoint. I don’t know why.”
On Louisiana-Lafayette pitcher Brittany Cuevas…
“She threw a lot of first pitch strikes and we took a lot of first pitch strikes. We just didn’t make any adjustments.”
Pitcher Melissa Dumezich
On struggling offensively against Brittany Cuevas…
“We just weren’t aggressive. You have to go up looking to hit every single pitch.”
On giving up the first-inning home run…
“My curveball wasn’t working the way I wanted it to. I think when it is working, it’s effective.”
On if she was ever able to effectively throw her curveball…
“Nope. I used all my other pitches.”
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Stefni Lotief
Opening statement…
“I was very proud of the way the team came out here prepared and jumped on the ball from the first inning. I think we just continued to put pressure and put the ball in play and were able to come up in some key situations and put some runs across the board. Great hit by Gabi [Bridges] to make a stand in the first inning, and obviously [Brittany] Cuevas pitched well.”
On the fan support they received…
“I love the fact that we’re close to home and our fans have an opportunity to be here. This team has a strong following from its fans and they very much appreciate their support. We’re very fortunate that we’re this close and that they can be here with us in numbers.”
Pitcher Brittany Cuevas
On the pitch selection…
“I just threw whatever they called. I felt like we mixed it up well and I just had to execute what was being called. Every pitch I had to throw the best I could.”
On whether she was trying to work the inside of the strike zone…
“Whatever’s working for me, and me and Lana [Bowers] and the coaches just try to work together and just keep going until we find something that works.”
First Baseman Gabriele Bridges
On her first-inning home run…
“We pretty much prepare for what we’re going to see when we come into these situations. Our preparation leads into what our performance ends up being, so seeing any kind of zones specifically that we worked on is what we prepared for.”
On whether she expected to see a curveball in that spot…
“Christi [Orgeron] came up the at-bat before and she had seen the same thing, so I was expecting to pretty much see a similar pattern. Our approach was pretty much consistent with each batter.”