Overall Record: 15-7 [0-0 SEC]
Last Week: 5-0
March 7 – at Nicholls State [W, 10-2 – 5 Innings]
March 9 – Mississippi Valley State [W, 2-0]
March 9 – Troy [W, 6-3]
March 10 – Troy [W, 1-0]
March 10 – Mississippi Valley State [W, 16-0 – 5 Innings]
This Week:
March 14 – Auburn [Tiger Park, 5 p.m.]
March 14 – Auburn [Tiger Park, 7:30 p.m.]
March 16 – Mississippi State [Tiger Park, 6 p.m.]
March 17 – Mississippi State [Tiger Park, 4 p.m.]
March 18 – Mississippi State [Tiger Park, 1 p.m.]
Nominee for Player/Freshman of the Week
Ashley Langoni, LF, Sr., Pueblo, Colo.
Langoni continued her hot streak as LSU garnered a 5-0 week and swept the Purple & Gold Challenge. She picked up a trio of multi-hit efforts to come away with a .500 average for the week, scored seven runs and drove home six RBIs. Over her last eight games, Langoni has boosted her average by 95 points to a team-leading .316 ratio. Her home run during the first inning versus Nicholls State allowed her to tie former All-American Stephanie Hill and Anissa Young for seventh place on the program’s all-time list.
Nominee for Pitcher of the Week
Rachele Fico, P, Jr., Oxford, Conn.
Fico added two more wins to her ledger highlighted by her fourth one-hit of shutout of the season versus Troy. The junior right-hander equaled a season’s best 10 strikeouts and became the eighth Tiger hurler to eclipse 400 career Ks. She sat down 20 of the final 21 batters she faced with the lone hiccup being a fifth-inning single. Fico quickly erased the threat with back-to-back strikeouts.
Nominee for Freshman of the Week
Dylan Supak, 1B, Fr., LaGrange, Texas
Supak had a memorable week where she doubled her season run, hit and RBI totals. She also connected for her first career home run en route to a .429 batting average and claimed Purple & Gold Challenge All-Tournament Team accolades. The LaGrange, Texas, native provided hits in four of five games and drove home five RBIs. In the process, Supak raised her batting clip over the .300 mark for the season. Her leadoff single during the seventh inning started the momentum for LSU’s 1-0 walkoff win over Troy.
Notes on the Tigers
LSU reeled off five consecutive victories in addition to the Purple & Gold Challenge Tournament title. The Tigers outscored their opponents by a 35-5 margin and have won 12 of their last 15 games dating back to February 19. LSU connected for a .336 batting average during the week. Ashleigh Kuhn, Ashley Langoni and Dylan Supak combined for 18 of the team’s 29 RBIs. Langoni and Supak opened the week with a bang as the pair ripped back-to-back home runs in the first inning at Nicholls State. It marked the 17th time in program history that LSU accomplished the feat. For Langoni, it was her 26th career roundtripper which tied her with former All-American Stephanie Hill and Anissa Young for seventh place on LSU’s all-time list. Rachele Fico and Brittany Mack secured a pair of wins in the circle. Fico tossed her fourth one-hitter of the season versus Troy and did it in style retiring 20 of the final 21 batters she faced. The lone blemish was a fifth-inning single, but the junior right-hander immediately erased the threat with consecutive strikeouts. Fico also became the eighth player in program history to surpass 400 career Ks. Mack, the No. 1 pick during Wednesday’s National Pro Fastpitch Draft, notched 15 strikeouts and improved her record to 6-4 on the campaign. For the season, LSU has posted an impressive 92-13 advantage during its 15 wins. The Tigers open SEC play with a mid-week doubleheader versus No. 20 Auburn [Wednesday – 5 p.m.] followed by a weekend series against Mississippi State [Friday – 6 p.m., Saturday – 4 p.m.; Sunday – 1 p.m.] at Tiger Park.