PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – The No. 20 LSU softball team faces its toughest challenge of the 2011 season as the Tigers head to the west coast for prestigious Cathedral City Classic over the weekend.
LSU (10-3) has games scheduled against Pac-10 powers No. 3 Arizona [Friday 10:30 p.m.] and No. 14 California [Saturday 5 p.m.] along with Fordham [Saturday 7:30 p.m.] and Cal Poly [Sunday 11 a.m.].
“It is a very huge tournament,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “We play a very late night game for us [on Friday], and we will have to adapt to that, as well as the time change. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere with some of the best teams in the country. A lot will happen out there. We welcome the opportunity and the challenge.”
The tournament held at the Big League Dreams Complex in Palm Springs marks a homecoming for native Californians Ashley Applegate, Simone Heyward, Juliana Santos and Anissa Young.
The Tigers are coming off a 7-1 victory Wednesday over McNeese State where five different players logged RBIs during a seven-run third inning. Morgan Russell and Jacee Blades delivered RBI singles to highlight the frame.
Applegate, a starter in all 61 games last season, made her season debut and scored as a pinch runner against the Cowgirls.
For the season, six different players have racked up seven or more RBIs for the Tigers. The junior quartet of Ashley Langoni, Heidi Pizer, Santos and Young has produced 38 of the team’s 75 RBIs for the season.
Young checks in with a scorching .394 batting average and has registered hits in nine of 13 games this season, while Langoni has tacked on RBIs in three of her last four outings.
In the circle, all three LSU pitchers have registered at least three wins for the season. All three Tiger hurlers also have tallied more strikeouts than innings pitched.
Brittany Mack and Rachele Fico limited McNeese State to only two hits over their four frames of relief. Mack also fired in four strikeouts to secure the win and improve to 3-0 on the season.
Meghan Patterson has garnered back-to-back Louisiana Sports Writers Association [LSWA] Pitcher of the Week awards en route to a 4-0 start with a staff-low 1.08 ERA.
On the injury front, LSU will be without Jessica Mouse for the third straight weekend. Simone Heyward is listed as day-to-day for the weekend.
Live stats for all four games from Palm Springs, Calif. will be available on www.LSUsports.net/livestats and fans can follow in-game updates via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.