BATON ROUGE – The No. 21 LSU softball team takes on South Carolina for a three-game set to conclude its regular season slate this weekend at Tiger Park. Game times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
The Tigers (35-15, 16-9 SEC) have already secured a spot in next week’s SEC Tournament, but can climb as high as second place in the league standings depending on the weekend’s results. LSU enters the weekend winners of nine straight and 20 of its last 23 games dating back to March 19.
LSU will pay tribute to Ashley Applegate, Jessica Mouse and Tiffany Shaw following Friday’s series opener as part of Senior Night.
“We’re extremely excited to honor our senior class,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “Ashley, Jessica and Tiffany have meant a great deal to our program. All three have brought leadership and stability to our programs. They’ve always worked extremely hard to represent LSU the right way both on and off the field during their careers.”
South Carolina (26-27, 6-19 SEC) surpassed its overall and SEC win total from last season during the halfway point of the season under first year coach Beverly Smith. Offensively, the Gamecocks are paced by Lauren Lackey’s .359 batting average, while Kaitlin Westfall has cranked a team-best five home runs and 27 RBIs on a .303 hitting clip.
In the circle, Audrey Broyles is 6-9 with a staff-low 2.91 ERA and held opponents to a .216 hitting clip. Julie Sarratt has notched an 8-8 record and tallied a staff-high 69 strikeouts in her 100.1 innings of work.
LSU is 31-12 all-time versus South Carolina and has emerged with wins during 14 of the last 16 meetings dating back to the 2006 season.
“South Carolina is a much-improved team,” Girouard said. “Coach Smith has done a fabulous job in her first season. We know we’ll have to play our best and execute in all facets of the game to keep our recent run of success going.”
Simone Heyward fuels the offense from the top of the lineup with a .285 batting average to go along with 20 stolen bases. Since returning to the leadoff spot, Heyward has notched hits in three of her last four games and added a pair of RBIs.
Anissa Young has found her stroke back at the plate and belted her team-leading ninth home run of the season last time out at Mississippi State. For Young, the dinger set a personal season-high after she posted eight home runs during each of her first two seasons. She also has drove home a team-best 36 RBIs on the season.
Tammy Wray has collected hits in six of her last nine games sparked by a game-winning RBI double during the sixth inning of LSU’s 7-6 comeback victory Saturday at Mississippi State. She is right behind Young with seven long balls and 29 RBIs for the season.
From the No. 8 and No. 9 spots in the lineup, Jacee Blades and Shaw combined to rack up 11 hits and scored a quartet of runs last week. Blades heads into the USC series on a career-long seven-game hitting streak.
Brittany Mack, the reigning two-time LSWA Pitcher of the Week, moved to 16-5 on the season after she secured three wins at Mississippi State. She garnered double digit strikeouts during both of her starts versus the Bulldogs. Dating back to March 19, Mack has rolled to an 11-2 mark with a sparking 0.87 ERA.
The junior right-hander joined Georgia’s Morgan Montemayor and Florida’s Hannah Rogers this season as the only league pitchers to claim all three wins during an SEC weekend series. The Mack-Rachele Fico duo has combined to pick up 29 of LSU’s 35 wins in the circle this season.
Live audio and live stats for all three games of the series will be available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net in addition to being carried live on ESPN 104.5 FM with Patrick Wright and Kent Lowe calling the action.
CST will televise Friday and Saturday’s contests with Lyn Rollins and Cheri Kempf serving as the announcing team. In-game updates are provided via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and www.Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.
The Tiger Park Ticket Booth opens 90 minutes prior to first pitch each day. Fans can purchase tickets on-site starting at $5 for adult general admission. Tickets also are available online at www.LSUtix.net.