BATON ROUGE – The No. 25 LSU softball team embarks on a five-game road trip with a Wednesday match-up at Nicholls. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. at the Colonel Softball Complex.
The Tigers (17-12) have posted a 6-0 record against Louisiana schools this season, including an 11-2 five-inning rout of Nicholls back in February at the Houston Crowne Plaza Classic. LSU has racked up a .373 team batting average and a 1.10 staff ERA versus in-state foes en route to an impressive 58-6 advantage.
“I’m sure we’ll see a very different Nicholls team than we saw in Houston,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “All the Colonel fans will show up and pack the park. We know we can never take in-state opponents lightly and always have to be ready to play any time we travel inside the state.
Over the weekend, LSU took two of three games from No. 24 Kentucky to put a seven-game losing streak in the rear view mirror. The Tigers were fueled by Ashley Langoni, who posted hits and RBIs during all three games of the series. She enters Wednesday’s game on a five-game hitting streak and is the only LSU player to start all 29 games in the same position this season.
“The losing streak was stressful for all of us, and I’m grateful that we were able to some wins against a solid Kentucky team,” Girouard said. “We saw some excellent things offensively from Langoni over the weekend and hopefully that will be contagious for the rest of our offense.”
Anissa Young has turned in 15 of her 19 hits along with 13 of her team-best 21 RBIs on the season from the No. 4 spot in the lineup. Her six home runs not only pace the squad but are tied for 14th in the SEC.
Tammy Wray is right behind Young with three dingers and 18 RBIs. She provided the game winning RBI on a hit batter with the bases loaded during the fifth inning of the middle game of the Kentucky series.
Simone Heyward, Alex Boulet and Tiffany Shaw are ranked among the SEC’s Top 15 and have combined for 33 of the team’s 43 stolen bases on the season. Shaw has hit safely in 15 of her last 24 games and is tied for the team lead with five multi-hit performances.
In the circle, LSU rode Brittany Mack‘s right arm to a pair of complete game victories. The reigning Louisiana Pitcher of the Week has totaled a 7-3 record and limited her opponents to a .211 hitting clip. Rachele Fico and Meghan Patterson also have notched five wins apiece.
“It has been a long time since we’ve been able to throw Mack on back-to-back days,” Girouard said. “She was very effective and threw magnificently. Those types of performances are a big confidence builder for her.”
Fans can follow Wednesday’s contest via live stats on www.LSUsports.net/livestats along with in-game updates via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and www.Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.