BATON ROUGE – Rachele Fico tossed the third perfect game in program history as the No. 18 LSU softball team raced its way to a dominant 9-0 five-inning victory over Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday in-front of 1,011 fans at Tiger Park.
“Rachele was magnificent tonight,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “She played great defense and certainly was the deciding factor in tonight’s game. Offensively, the speed factor wasn’t as noticeable tonight, but the power game sure did show up. We hit the ball hard, and the intensity was magnificent. It’s a team that really enjoys coming out here and playing softball. It was the first time we had worn this uniform combination [gold jerseys and purple pants], and we might have to do it again.”
Fico sat down all 15 batters she faced, seven via the strikeout. A ball didn’t leave the infield as the sophomore right-hander joined Tiffany Garcia [Grambling State, 02/15/06] along with a combined effort from Britni Sneed and Sarah Meadors [Tennessee, 03/18/01] as the only perfect gems in Tiger history.
Southeastern Louisiana’s (3-3) best opportunity for a hit came with one out during the fifth inning, but Fico snagged the line drive off the bat of Megan McCollum. Four pitches later, Fico mowed down Lauren Coniglio to secure her place in the LSU record book.
“Being in this atmosphere, surrounded by my teammates, it’s just a great day to be a Tiger,” Fico said. “I love it here. My teammates mean the world to me and it amazes me that I was able to accomplish something like that with my teammates behind me.”
Tammy Wray and Anissa Young turned in identical 3-for-3 performances at the plate and drove home three RBIs apiece. The duo also launched a pair of two-run home runs in the first and third innings, respectively. Simone Heyward and Morgan Russell added RBIs as the Tigers scored all nine of their runs with two outs.
LSU seized the momentum early with three runs in the first inning. It marked the fifth time in seven games that the Tigers have scored during the opening frame this season.
Juliana Santos ripped a double down the right field line and advanced to third on an Ashley Langoni fly ball to the warning track. On the first pitch, Anissa Young chopped a RBI-single through the middle to hand the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
Tammy Wray capped the three-run stanza with a two-run homer that cleared the left field berm. It was the first long ball of Wray’s career.
“I don’t think it’s going to be the last of Tammy Wray‘s home runs,” Girouard said. “She had a tough spring but has come a long way with her hitting. I’m hoping she has some more confidence now. She has done a tremendous job defensively at third base filling in for [Jessica] Mouse. “
Young tacked on a two-run shot of her own to centerfield followed by a Russell RBI-double into the right centerfield gap to make it 6-0 after three innings.
LSU put the finishing touches on the win with another three-spot during the fourth inning highlighted by a Wray RBI-single for the final margin of 9-0.
“I think our lineup is awesome,” Wray said. “We have Simone [Heyward] with the speed at the top of the lineup, followed by our four power hitters, then back to speed at the bottom. I think our lineup is solid, one through nine.”
LSU hits the road for the first time during the 2011 season this weekend at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic. The Tigers have tilts scheduled with tournament host Houston along with No. 20 Oklahoma State, Nicholls State and Southern.
Live stats for all five games over the weekend will be available on LSUsports.net and fans can follow in-games updates via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.
LSU vs. Southern Louisiana
Postgame Quotes
February 16, 2011
Head Coach Yvette Girouard
On Rachele Fico…
“Rachele was magnificent tonight. She played great defense and certainly was the deciding factor in tonight’s game.”
On tonight’s game…
“The speed factor wasn’t as noticeable tonight, but the power game sure did show up. We hit the ball hard and the intensity was magnificent. It’s a team that really enjoys coming out here and playing softball. It was the first time we had worn this uniform combination, and we might have to do it again.”
On Tammy Wray…
“I don’t think it’s going to be the last of Tammy Wray‘s home runs. She had a tough spring but has come a long way with her hitting. I’m hoping she has some more confidence now. She has done a tremendous job defensively at third base filling in for [Jessica] Mouse. “
On the first road weekend…
“I’m sure we are going to see Donna Bourgeois, who has beaten us twice [at Louisiana-Lafayette] who now plays for Houston. I have much respect for Houston’s head coach Kyla Holas. Of course, Oklahoma State came here [last season], and we beat them twice. I felt they were a great ball club. We’re going to have to play very well this weekend to stay unbeaten.”
Third Baseman Tammy Wray
On the intensity the Tigers brought tonight…
“We knew coming out here we had to step up from last weekend and show everybody who we are. The coaches gave us some encouraging words in the locker room before. We came out here and showed what we had.”
On the lineup complementing each other…
“I think it is awesome. We have Simone [Heyward] with the speed at the top of the lineup, followed by our four power hitters, then back to speed at the bottom. I think our lineup is solid, one through nine.”
On the competition on the road this weekend…
“We go into each and every game with the same attitude. We go out, do our best and treat every team just like any other team.”
On Rachele Fico‘s perfect game…
“It’s awesome. I looked up during the fourth inning, and I just knew that she was going pitch a perfect game. No matter where I am on the field, I love playing behind her.”
On her first homerun…
“I needed that for sure. I haven’t been hitting how I usually can and what they recruited me as. I knew right off the bat it was over. It felt great.”
Pitcher Rachele Fico
On her perfect game…
“Being in this atmosphere, surrounded by my teammates, it’s just a great day to be a Tiger. I love it here. My teammates mean the world to me and it amazes me that I was able to accomplish something like that with my teammates behind me.”
On the Tiger Park atmosphere…
“It was a great atmosphere here at Tiger Park tonight. The weather was great, and the crowd was amazing. We wore our gold jerseys with our purple pants and it was the first time we had done it in a long time. Our bats were alive tonight. They really set the tempo. Our hitters really set the pace of the game. It was a great team effort.”
On the Tigers’ Lineup…
“I have so much fun watching our lineup hit. They’re incredible. No matter who is in it, we have so much power, speed and they commit themselves 100 percent to every swing. “
On what pitches were working tonight…
“Both of our catchers [Morgan Russell and Lauren Houston] called pitches behind the plate tonight. They did a great job keeping a healthy mix. We worked both corners, in and out. We changed planes and mixed a little bit of the off speed. We really just worked on controlling the hitter and keeping them off balance.”
On the weekend’s road competition…
“This next weekend is really going to help prepare us for the SEC. There is some great competition. We will have to be on our ‘A’ game and give it our all.”