Overall Record: 4-1 [0-0 SEC]
NFCA/USA Softball Ranking: 4/4
Last Week: 4-1
Feb. 12 – vs. Ohio State [W, 9-0, 5 innings]
Feb. 12 – vs. North Florida [W, 0-3, 5 innings]
Feb. 13 – vs. UConn [W, 13-2, 5 innings]
Feb. 13 – vs. Pacific [L, 2-1]
Feb. 14 – vs. Pacific [W, 10-1, 5 innings]
This Week:
Feb. 19 – No. 9 Arizona [Palm Springs, Calif., 5 p.m.]
Feb. 19 – Bethune-Cookman [Palm Springs, Calif., 10 p.m.]
Feb. 20 – UCSB [Palm Springs, Calif., 5 p.m.]
Feb. 20 – No. 15 UCF [Palm Springs, Calif., 7:30 p.m.]
Feb. 21 – No. 8 UCLA [Palm Springs, Calif., 11 a.m.]
Notes on the Tigers
LSU returns to action this weekend, traveling to California to participate in the first weekend of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs… The Tigers will play three ranked teams in Arizona, UCF and UCLA, while also taking on Bethune-Cookman and UCSB… The entire weekend will be streamed online and provided by FloSoftball, as fans must purchase a subscription through the website to watch online… LSU opened the weekend by going 4-1 at the Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge… LSU earned run-rule victories in each of the first three games against Ohio State, North Florida and Connecticut and in all four wins last weekend… It was the first time in program history that LSU began a season run-ruling each of its first three opponents, while it matches the 2008 team for the most after the first five games of the season… LSU outhit its opponents 42-19 over the course of the weekend, hitting .385 as a group in the five games as 16 different players earned at least one hit… The Tigers outscored their opponents 42-5, with 38 RBIs against the teams… Of the 42 hits, 11 were for extra bases with seven doubles, a triple and three home runs, two of which were grand slams… Offensively, the Tigers slugged .550 with a .525 on base percentage, striking out just six times while taking 28 walks and stealing five bases… The LSU pitching staff held an earned run average of 0.52, getting four complete games and two shutouts… The quartet of Tigers struck out 30 batters and held opposing teams to a .183 batting average… As a group, they started the season with 13 consecutive scoreless innings… Sahvanna Jaquish led the team on the weekend, going 9-for-13 with two doubles and a grand slam, nine RBIs and five runs scored… She was named the SEC Player of the Week on Monday… Jaquish drove in six of those nine in a single inning, hitting a two-RBI double and a grand slam later on to match her career high and finish one short of tying the record for most in a single game… Jaquish had one of the grand slams, the other came from the bat of Jenna Kreamer, who had hers against North Florida… Kellsi Kloss, Bianka Bell and Bailey Landry each had four hits, with Bell having a three-run home run and drove in six runs… Of the 28 walks, Kloss and Bell combined for 10 and had the most for any player on the team… Two of LSU’s freshmen contributed in Shemiah Sanchez and Amber Serrett, as both had three hits on the weekend, with Sanchez having a double and driving in three, while Serrett drove in two and scored three times… Five new Tigers each earned their first hits over the weekend, as Elyse Thornhill had both of her hits go for doubles, Taylor Satchell have the team’s only triple, with Randi Provost also having a single… Sophomore Carley Hoover led the pitching staff with a 2-0 record, going the distance in both and striking out 19 in 11 innings of work… She only allowed an unearned run on six hits and five total walks… Freshman Sydney Smith had the other shutout, pitching a one-hitter with eight strikeouts, holding UNF to a .059 batting average… Baylee Corbello earned the other victory, holding UConn to two runs on just five hits… Allie Walljasper pitched six innings and did not allow an earned run or walk with two strikeouts.
NFCA Top 25 – Feb 16
Rank, Team, Points, 2016 Record, Last Poll
1, Florida (31), 799, 4-0, 1
2, Michigan, 746, 4-1, 2
3, Auburn (1), 733, 5-0, 4
4, LSU 675, 4-1, 3
5, Alabama, 662, 4-1, 5
6, Oregon, 643, 5-1, 6
7, Louisiana Lafayette, 563, 5-0, 11
8, UCLA, 555, 4-1, 7
9, Arizona, 479, 6-0, 13
10, Georgia, 472, 4-0, 12
11, Washington, 463, 4-0, 20
12, Tennessee, 430, 4-2, 8
13, Florida State, 411, 4-1, 10
14, Oklahoma, 406, 3-2, 9
15, UCF, 351, 4-1, 17
16, Missouri, 302, 0-0, 15
17, Arizona State, 291, 6-0, 22
18, Kentucky, 266, 3-1, 18
19, James Madison, 259, 4-1, 19
20, Minnesota, 243, 3-2, 20
21, Baylor, 143, 2-1, 16
22, California, 121, 3-1, 21
23, South Alabama, 101, 5-0, 25
24, Fresno State, 83, 5-0, RV
25, Texas A&M, 76, 4-1, RV
Dropped Out: No. 23 North Carolina State, No. 24, Notre Dame
Receiving Votes: Texas (48), Notre Dame (33), Nebraska (13), Florida Atlantic (13), Mississippi State (10), North Carolina State (4), Long Beach State (3), North Dakota State (1), North Carolina (1), Oregon State (1).
USA Softball Top 25 – Feb. 16
Rank
Team, 2016 Record, Points, Previous Ranking
1., Florida (19), 4-0, 499, 1
2., Michigan, 4-1, 470, 2
3., Auburn, 5-0, 452, 6
4., LSU, 4-1, 423, 3
5., Oregon, 5-1, 422, 4
6., Alabama, 4-1, 401, 5
7., UCLA, 4-1, 357, 7
8., Louisiana-Lafayette, 5-0, 335, 11
9., Washington (1), 4-0, 290, 19
T10., Arizona, 6-0, 269, 15
T10., Oklahoma, 3-2, 269, 8
12., Georgia, 4-0, 261, 14
13., Missouri, 0-0, 258, 12
14., Tennessee, 4-2, 255, 9
15., Florida State, 4-1, 247, 10
16., UCF, 4-1, 218, 17
17., Arizona State, 6-0, 194, 20
18., Minnesota, 3-2, 181, 13
19., Kentucky, 3-1, 156, 18
20., James Madison, 4-1, 130, 21
21., Baylor, 2-1 112, 16
22., Fresno State, 5-0, 82, RV
23., Texas A&M, 4-1, 75, 24
24., Texas, 5-0, 54, RV
25., California, 3-1, 45, 22
Parenthesis denotes first place votes.
New to Poll: Fresno State, Texas
Dropped Out: Utah (23), NC State (25)
Others receiving votes: South Alabama (12), Utah (12), Mississippi State (6), USC Upstate (5), NC State (4), Ohio State (4), Long Beach State (1), Texas State (1)