BATON ROUGE – The LSU softball team will ride a five-game winning streak into SEC action where the Tigers will face No. 20 Auburn for a Wednesday doubleheader at 5 p.m. in Tiger Park. It marks the program’s annual “Gold Game” along with “Student Point Night.”
Both games of the twinbill will have live video, live audio and live stats inside the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. The game also will be carried live Country Legends 104.9 FM in the Baton Rouge area with Patrick Wright and Kent Lowe set to call the action.
In addition to its current five-game winning streak, LSU (15-7, 0-0 SEC) has emerged with victories in 12 of its last 15 outings dating back to Feb. 19.
Auburn (21-3, 0-0 SEC) has been led by a balanced three-headed attack in the pitching circle. Angel Bunner, Jenee Loree and Lauren Schmalz have secured eight, seven and six wins, respectively. Loree is the reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week after tossing a no-hitter against Presbyterian.
Auburn’s offense is sparked by Lauren Guzman, Elizabeth Eisterhold, Caitlin Jordan and Brooke Lathan, who are all hitting over a .340 ratio for the season. The quartet has combined for 17 of the 26 home runs along with 75 of the team’s 131 RBIs.
“This is a big week,” head coach Beth Torina said. “We have been working hard and waiting for this week to get here when we start SEC play. Auburn is having a great season. We know we have our work cut out for us, but we have worked hard. We are excited, we are prepared and we are ready.”
Offensively, Ashley Langoni paces the Tigers and has amassed a .316 batting average, three home runs and 16 RBIs. Eight of her team-leading 18 hits for the season have gone for extra bases, and she has garnered four multi-hit efforts in her last six outings.
Allison Falcon, Ashleigh Kuhn and Dylan Supak are tied for second on the team with nine RBIs. Falcon connected for her first dinger of the season, a two-run shot, during a 6-3 victory over Troy on March 9.
Kuhn is swinging a hot bat and has gone 4-for-8 in her last three outings. As a pinch hitter, Kuhn ripped a two-out, RBI single during the seventh inning for the game’s only run versus Troy on March 10.
Supak has notched hits in five of her last six outings and has raised her batting average by 68 points during the run to a .308 hitting clip. She is joined by Juliana Santos, who also has registered hits in five of her last six appearances. Santos will look to break a streak of 10 consecutive games without a RBI dating back to Feb. 25.
Ashley Applegate has reeled off hits in three consecutive games from the top of the LSU lineup and claimed her first RBI of the season during a 16-0 five-inning rout of Mississippi Valley State on March 10 to conclude the Purple & Gold Challenge.
“Kuhn has done a nice job of bouncing back after she was in a little bit of slump early,” Torina said. “She has worked hard, put in the extra time and had some big hits for us last week for sure. I also liked some of the things Ashley Applegate has done from the leadoff spot.”
In the circle, Rachele Fico continues to add to her impressive junior campaign and is 7-3 with a blistering 0.53 ERA. She tossed her fourth one-hitter of the season versus Troy. Fico finished the game in-style and mowed down 20 of the final 21 batters she faced.
Brittany Mack, the No. 1 pick in last week’s National Pro Fastpitch Collegiate Draft, has emerged with wins in her last three decisions. She is 6-4 with a 2.40 ERA and has sliced her ERA nearly in half since her outing against No. 3 California on Feb. 19.
Meghan Patterson is 2-0 and racked up 32 strikeouts in her 23.1 innings of work. She has won both of her starts and hasn’t been touched up for a run in her last 17 frames of action.
LSU holds a 43-12 series advantage over Auburn and has won 17 of the last 19 meetings going back to the 2006 season. LSU picked up 7-3 and 1-0 victories over Auburn last season as Langoni and Santos teamed up for a 7-for-14 performance and added six RBIs. Fico and Mack also put together solid pitching performances highlighted by Fico’s three-hitter in the second game.
Follow every pitch of LSU softball this season via live in-game updates on LSU softball’s social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsu_softball on Twitter.
As part of Brittany Mack‘s “Geaux Play” initiative, LSU softball is encouraging fans to share the gift of sports with special needs children. Fans can donate new or gently used sports equipment during the remaining LSU softball home games at Tiger Park.
All items collected will be given directly to the Miracle League Association and six local schools that Mack will visit during the season. At LSU’s series finale versus Ole Miss on April 22, Mack will invite all the children to the game as her special VIP guests for “Geaux Play” day at Tiger Park.
The Tiger Park Ticket Booth will open 90 minutes prior the first pitch. Fans can purchase tickets on-site starting at $5 for adult general admission and $3 for youth ages 3-12. Tickets also are available online at www.LSUtix.net.
Season ticket holders will have their tickets scanned upon entrance to Tiger Park. The LSU Athletics Ticket Office urges season ticket holders to be cautious when separating their bar-coded tickets. The barcode must be attached to the ticket when arriving at the gate. If the barcode detaches, season ticket holders must stop by the LSU Athletics Ticket Office on the first floor of the Athletics/Administration Building for a reprint of their tickets.