BATON ROUGE – Ashley Langoni and Morgan Russell ripped a pair of two-run singles to fuel a six-run third inning as the No. 21 LSU softball team closed the final regular season of Yvette Girouard‘s coaching career in-style with an 8-0 triumph over South Carolina Sunday at Tiger Park.
“I tried to treat today like it was a normal day,” Girouard said. “I was just trying to get the win. I’m always trying to get the game as it is the most important thing. So, I just tried to make it a normal day. As I have said before, this is a career that I did not even dream of having. LSU just went all out.”
“The whole weekend was for Coach Girouard,” first baseman Anissa Young said. “She is a great coach, and we are going to miss her. She is an inspiration to me, and we just wanted to get these three wins this weekend so that she can send her riding off into the sunset.”
LSU (38-15, 19-9 SEC) won its 12th consecutive game and secured the No. 4 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament hosted by Ole Miss. The Tigers square off with No. 7 Georgia in the quarterfinals Thursday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU and have won 23 of their last 26 games dating back to March 19.
“We’re going to be the No. 4 seed in a very good league,” Girouard said. “I would like to be the No. 1 seed, but we scratched, clawed and never gave up. We always believed in ourselves. Some of these other teams have much more firepower than we do, but we pitch well and play outstanding defense. As long as you do those things then you have a chance in any game.”
Brittany Mack fired a two-hit shutout and notched four strikeouts against one walk to improve to 18-5 on the season. Neither of South Carolina’s (26-30, 6-22 SEC) hits left the infield.
The Tigers sent 10 batters to the plate during the third inning. Jacee Blades ignited the frame with a leadoff single. Two batters later, Simone Heyward drew a walk. Juliana Santos and Anissa Young reached on back-to-back fielder’s choices without an out recorded for the game’s first run.
On the 3-2 offering, Langoni platted Heyward and Santos with a single through the left side to extend the LSU advantage to 3-0. Tammy Wray added a RBI on a USC fielding error, while Morgan Russell smacked a two-run single to centerfield to make it 6-0.
LSU added the finishing touches and added two more runs in the fifth inning. With one out, Wray connected for a single through the middle. Pinch runner Alex Boulet stole second and third base before scoring on a Lauren Houston RBI double. A South Carolina throwing error allowed pinch runner Katie Guillory to cross the plate for the final margin of 8-0.
“We knew we had to do this for Coach Girouard and also for ourselves,” Mack said. “We had to come out and show everyone who the real Tigers are. So, we had to make sure that we came together, put our heads together and we fought through everything. We were going to crawl if we had to in order to get wins.”
All of LSU’s games at the SEC Tournament will have live audio and live stats in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. Live video will be provided by ESPN3.com and the contests also will be carried on ESPN 104.5 FM in Baton Rouge with Patrick Wright and Matt Dunaway calling the action.
In-game updates are provided via the program’s social media pages at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and www.Twitter.com/LSU_Softball.
2011 SEC Tournament – Oxford, Miss.
Thursday, May 12 – Quarterfinals
Game 1 – No. 3 Tennessee vs. No. 6 Kentucky – 11 a.m. [ESPNU]
Game 2 – No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Auburn – 1:30 p.m. [ESPNU]
Game 3 – No. 4 LSU vs. No. 5 Georgia – 4 p.m. [ESPNU]
Game 4 – No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 8 Mississippi State – 6:30 p.m. [ESPN2]
Friday, May 13 – Semifinals
Game 5 – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner – 2 p.m. [ESPNU]
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner – 4:30 p.m. [ESPNU]
Saturday, May 14 – Championship
Game 7 – Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner – 7 p.m. [ESPN]
Softball Quotes – May 8, 2011
No. 21 LSU vs. South Carolina
On the post-game ceremony …
“I tried to treat today like it was a normal day. I was just trying to get the win. I’m always trying to get the game as it is the most important thing. So, I just tried to make it a normal day. As I have said before, this is a career that I did not even dream of having. LSU just went all out.”
On being the No. 4 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament …
“We’re going to be the No. 4 seed in a very good league. I would like to be the No. 1 seed, but we scratched, clawed and never gave up. We always believed in ourselves. Some of these other teams have much more firepower than we do, but we pitch well and play outstanding defense. As long as you do those things then you have a chance in any game.”
On Ashley Langoni‘s hit in the third inning …
“The game seemed like it was lagging just like the past two games. She has struggled a little bit and she has wanted to hit well, so I was very happy for her. After her hit, the floodgates opened a little bit.”
On the players wanting to win for Coach Girouard …
“I think the veteran players told our younger players that it was important that we win today. We didn’t talk about it being my last home game today. We just talked about getting a better seed at the SEC Tournament and to just keep playing good softball.”
On facing Georgia in the SEC Tournament …
“They’re two different teams than we saw when we played earlier this season in Athens, and we will be playing at a neutral site, so hopefully we will play much better.”
Pitcher Brittany Mack
On the importance of the game …
“We knew that we wanted to win for ourselves today, but also for Coach Girouard. We had to make sure that we shut the door on them, and we did that, so I am very happy.”
On whether she felt any added pressure today …
“I didn’t feel any pressure. I knew we would come out there and get the job done. So, there was no pressure. We just came out here, played ball and did what we had to do to win the game.”
On the mindset heading into the game …
“We were told before the game that we were probably going to be playing either Georgia or Kentucky in the first round of the SEC Tournament, and now we know it is Georgia. We know we have to keep everything going – keep the hitting up, keep the pitching up and just make sure that we go out there and get a win.”
On the team’s turnaround after starting 0-6 in the SEC …
“We knew we had to do this for Coach Girouard and also for ourselves. We had to come out and show everyone who the real Tigers are. So, we had to make sure that we came together, put our heads together and we fought through everything. We were going to crawl if we had to in order to get wins.”
First Baseman Anissa Young
On the performance this weekend for Coach Girouard …
“The whole weekend was for Coach Girouard. She is a great coach, and we are going to miss her. She is an inspiration to me, and we just wanted to get these three wins this weekend so that she can send her riding off into the sunset.”
On today’s game …
“It was a great win today. We hit the ball really well. We had timely hitting, and we are proud of the way we played today. We hope to take this into the postseason.”
On Coach Girouard …
“As soon as the final run crossed the plate, I looked at Coach Girouard. She had a huge smile on her face. I know that she is in a very delicate place right now, and I am very proud of her. I just wish her the best.”
On the team’s offensive production …
“We are all great hitters. We can all hit the ball, and that is exactly what we need heading into the postseason. We are going to need every single person to play well in order to win the game. That is what we did today, and I am just really proud of the girls.”
On the emotions of the day …
“It was very tough to keep a hold of my emotions today. Seeing her at third base, I know she is not only thinking about our team but every team that she has coached. It is a great feeling. I am very proud of being on this team and I am very proud to be a Tiger.”
On facing Georgia in the SEC Tournament …
“We are a completely different team. We have lots of confidence right now, and we are going to take that confidence into the SEC Tournament. We are going to stick to our gameplan and play Tiger softball.”