BATON ROUGE – Following its SEC bye weekend, the No. 25 LSU softball team continues its five-game road swing Tuesday versus Southeastern Louisiana. First pitch is slated for 6 p.m. at North Oak Park.
The Tigers (18-12) have picked up seven straight wins over in-state opponents to open the 2011 season, including a 9-0 five-inning decision over Southeastern Louisiana (14-15). Rachele Fico retired all 15 batters she faced, seven via the strikeout, en route to the program’s third perfect game.
Last time out, LSU used a seven-run third inning to claim an 8-0 triumph at Nicholls State. Eight different Tigers notched hits, while Meghan Patterson and Fico combined for 10 strikeouts.
Ashley Langoni enters Tuesday’s game and has matched a career-best six-game hitting streak. During the run, Langoni is batting .500 with eight RBIs, including RBIs in her last four outings. She also has boosted her average up to .274 to go along with two home runs and 16 RBIs for the season.
Anissa Young and Tammy Wray have combined for 10 of the team’s 16 home runs. The duo also has racked up 21 and 19 RBIs, respectively, to pace the Tigers.
From the top of the lineup, Simone Heyward has tallied a team-high .304 batting average and added 13 stolen bases. She also has scored 19 runs and LSU has won 11 of 13 games when Heyward crosses the plate this season.
Jacee Blades has reached base n 17 of her 24 starts, including five of her last eight outings dating back to March 11. Defensively, she has seen action in four different positions and garnered a spotless fielding percentage.
LSU’s pitching staff has recorded 236 strikeouts to rank third in the SEC. Patterson bounced back from her lone setback of the season with three strong innings at Nicholls State. She is 6-1 with a 2.45 ERA and her staff-best 88 strikeouts are tied for seventh in the SEC.
Fico also provided two scoreless frames against the Colonels, while Brittany Mack tossed consecutive complete games her last time out against No. 24 Kentucky en route to a team-best seven victories in the circle.
Fans can follow Tuesday’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.