BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU softball team makes its return to the field on Tuesday evening, hosting the Northwestern State Lady Demons at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge in a non-conference matchup.
The Tigers are in the midst of an eight-game home stretch, playing just its second midweek game of the season on Tuesday against the Lady Demons, as tickets for the contest can be purchased online beginning at just $5. Fans in attendance can pick up the 2015 LSU softball schedule magnet, as well as posters and other team items, while fans who already have their “Louisiana Purchase” cards can add another stamp upon entry.
Live stats of the game will be available at LSUsports.net, along with continuous updates on the team’s social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.
Embarking on the fifth week of the season, the Tigers have exploded out of the starting blocks to the tune of a 21-0 start to the season to enter some historic airspace among some of the great teams of LSU’s past. This run the softball team is currently on is the best for any LSU team in any program in the history of the school, while also being on the sixth-longest winning streak in team history among the sports, now siting three away from tying its own program record which stands at 24.
LSU dispatched another group of teams over the weekend, including its opponent in the Lady Demons, going 5-0 in the Purple & Gold Challenge, the last non-conference tournament for the squad this season. The Tigers outscored Ball State, Florida Atlantic, NSU and Stephen F. Austin 57-8 over the course of the weekend, hitting .437 as a group with 18 extra base hits.
Leading the charge is the current SEC Player of the Week in A.J. Andrews, who earned the award after hitting a staggering .909 with 10 hits, 13 RBIs and seven stolen bases. She pieced together four multi-hit contests and three multi-RBI games, as she currently leads LSU with a .531 batting average.
Andrews wasn’t the only LSU to earn accolades this week, as Bianka Bell took home LSWA Player of the Month honors after leading the team in hits with 31 and sitting second in RBIs with 29. Bell tied Rachel Mitchell for the all-time home run mark with her 33rd career bomb over the weekend, as she leads the team with 10 multi-hit outings on the year.
Other offensive notes from the weekend include Bailey Landry extending her hitting streak to a career and season best 13 games, as she is two games shy of matching Andrews for the longest in program history, and one away from setting a new program record. Sahvanna Jaquish hit her seventh, eighth and ninth home runs of the season to take the team lead, as she is steadily creeping up the career boards in just her second season with 26. Kellsi Kloss was one of five players to earn five hits as she hit two home runs at the plate to slug 1.273, as Sandra Simmons and Emily Griggs each hit .500.
Moving to the circle, Walljasper earned another award as well as she was named the LSWA Pitcher of the Month for February, as she leads LSU in wins (7), ERA (0.51) and innings pitched (41.1) nearly midway through her first collegiate season. Fellow freshman Carley Hoover earned the most wins on the weekend with two, allowing just five hits and one run with 16 strikeouts to just one walk in 9.2 innings of work.
Baylee Corbello and Kelsee Selman each twirled shutouts for the Tigers, with Corbello needing just five innings to strike out nine and allow three hits, while Selman held Stephen F. Austin to just two hits with five strikeouts and a walk on just 70 pitches.
Northwestern State went 1-3 in the Purple & Gold Classic over the weekend, earning its only win against in an 11-10 comeback victory over Ball State on Saturday. LSU defeated the Lady Demons 15-1 later that night in their final game of the event. The Tigers will be looking to continue its streak against NSU, as they have never dropped a contest to the Lady Demons in 24 total games.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusb on Instagram.