BATON ROUGE – The LSU softball team opened the fall season with a quartet of strong victories during the LSU Fall Collegiate Classic I over the weekend at Tiger Park.
The Tigers knocked off Louisiana College [11-0], LSU-Eunice [13-6], Nicholls State [8-3] and Southeastern Louisiana [7-0].
LSU’s offense racked up 52 hits on a scorching .464 batting average. The Tigers used a balanced attack of speed and power to cross the plate 39 times. All in all, LSU recorded 20 stolen bases and cranked 11 extra base hits.
Ashley Langoni went an astounding 12-for-15 at the plate with a home run and 10 RBIs, while Jessica Mouse also provided a trio of extra base hits en route to six RBIs of her own.
LSU also got phenomenal contributions from its freshmen class. At the top of the lineup, Simone Heyward reeled off seven hits, scored five runs and swiped five stolen bases. Tammy Wray belted a pair of home runs and added four RBIs. Alex Boulet and Jacee Blades anchored the bottom of the order as the duo teamed for eight stolen bases and five multi-hit performances.
“The coaching staff saw some very positive signs during the first fall weekend,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “I was very pleased with the amount of speed that has been added to our team. We have some athletes that are and will play much bigger than their size. Alex, Jacee and Simone Heyward were very, very impressive on the field this weekend. Ashley picked up where she left off in the field making some truly remarkable plays, and backed up her defense with a shining offensive weekend. The team at this point has some very talented quick players who will give our team quality depth and push for playing time.”
In the circle, Rachele Fico was dominant and fired in 17 strikeouts over her 10 innings of work. Brittany Mack also tossed 10 solid innings with 10 Ks, while Meghan Patterson made her debut highlighted by four shutout innings in her first start against Southeastern Louisiana.
“Rachele threw extremely well and I thought Brittany threw better as she worked innings,” Girouard said. “Meghan also had some productive innings for us. There are always some areas that we need to address and work on after the first fall weekend.”
LSU returns to the diamond and concludes the fall season on October 23-24 at Tiger Park. The Tigers face off with Northwestern State, Louisiana-Monroe, Chipola CC and Faulkner State.