BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 7 LSU softball team will head to California this weekend, taking part in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic where the Tigers will take on New Mexico State, Bethune-Cookman, Long Beach State, No. 6 UCLA and No. 17 Utah in Palm Springs.
Fans wanting to follow the Tigers will be able to see updates on the team’s Facebook and Twitter pages, while website FloSoftball will have a video stream available for the tournament that can be viewed when purchasing a subscription for the weekend.
The Tigers go into the competition with a 9-1 overall record, winners of eight-straight after hosting the Purple & Gold Challenge at Tiger Park last weekend where the squad swept four games against Central Arkansas and Georgia Southern.
Competing Thursday-Saturday, the five games out west will be the first away from Tiger Park this season for the group, but will be a homecoming of sorts for three California-native Tigers in Amanda Doyle, Sahvanna Jaquish and Allie Walljasper. It will also aid as after next week’s LSU Invitational, LSU will spend two weeks on the road opening SEC play at Auburn before traveling to Kansas to play Wichita State and participate in the Rock Chalk Challenge at Kansas.
The LSU offense continued to produce high-octane numbers over the week, hitting .373 as a group and produced 47 total hits in the five matchups against the Lady Techsters, Bears and Eagles. The Tigers earned double-digit hits in three of the five games, scoring no less than five runs in four.
One of the players leading that charge was senior outfielder Bailey Landry, who this week was named the SEC and the Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I National Player of the Week after she finished the week hitting .813 with 13 hits, two doubles, two triples, a home run and 10 RBIs. Landry is currently batting .600 for the season with 21 hits, as her three triples is tied for the national lead.
Along with Landry, the Tigers currently have six players currently averaging .350 or better at the plate, as Jaquish barrels her way to the all-time RBI record with 219 for her career and 12 on the season and a .483 average. Emily Griggs hit .471 last week and is hitting .441 for the year, while freshmen Sydney Springfield and Amanda Doyle are at .414 and .385 respectively. Shemiah Sanchez rounds out group at .350 while she has made the switch from second to third base.
When the LSU offense wasn’t able to drive in runs in bunches, the Tiger pitching staff took care of the rest as the group sported a combined ERA of 1.27 and opponent batting average of .138.
Leading the way as she only gave up one hit in 14 innings with over 20 strikeouts was junior Carley Hoover, who threw a no-hitter against Louisiana Tech and nearly threw another one to close out the event against Central Arkansas allowing just one hit in the contest but earning her second shutout of the week.
Allie Walljasper leads the team in wins with four, earning a start and coming on in relief last weekend, while Sydney Smith has three wins and has only issued three walks on the season.
The Rundown
No. 7/8 LSU vs. New Mexico State, Feb. 23, 12:30 p.m., FloSoftball.com
No. 7/8 LSU vs. Bethune-Cookman, Feb. 23, 3 p.m., FloSoftball.com
No. 7/8 LSU vs. Long Beach State, Feb. 24, 10 p.m., FloSoftball.com
No. 7/8 LSU vs. No. 6/4 UCLA, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m., FloSoftball.com
No. 7/8 LSU vs. No. 17/17 Utah, Feb. 25, 10 p.m., FloSoftball.com
Torina’s Thoughts
On participating in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic…
“I think it’s a great tournament. It’s an opportunity for to see us play on the road and that’s important. We’ve been tested. We’ve played some great teams at home already this season, but this is a way to get the team used to playing on the road because it’s something that’s going to be a huge factor when we get into SEC play.”
On what the team will face this weekend…
“I think we’re going to see a lot of different types of pitching and a lot of different looks. And hopefully we’ll get a chance to do some work out there in preparing as well.”
Series Record Against…
Bethune-Cookman: LSU leads 1-0
Long Beach State: LSU leads 3-0
New Mexico State: LSU leads 1-0
UCLA: UCLA leads 6-2
Utah: LSU leads 2-0
LSU Leaders
Batting Average: Bailey Landry (.600)
Hits: Bailey Landry (21)
Doubles: Sahvanna Jaquish (4)
Triples: Bailey Landry (3)
Home Runs: Amber Serrett (2)
RBI: Bailey Landry (13)
Stolen Bases: Nicky Dawson (3)
ERA: Carley Hoover (1.18)
Wins: Allie Walljasper (4)
Strikeouts: Carley Hoover (36)
Shutouts: Carley Hoover (2)
Fewest Walks Allowed: Sydney Smith (3)
Opponent Batting Avg.: Carley Hoover (.113)
Scouting the Opposition
Bethune-Cookman
Is currently 1-9 on the season… Batting .241 on the season with a team ERA of 6.62… Will play LSU, Stanford, Texas, St. Johns and Michigan at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Long Beach State
Is currently 4-3-1 on the season… Batting .246 on the season with a 2.98 ERA… Has wins over South Dakota, Notre Dame, San Diego State and CSUB… Tied 6-6 with Weber State… Christina Clermont leads the pitching staff with a 1.40 ERA and has a 3-1 record.
New Mexico State
Currently 4-4 on the season… Batting .321 at the plate with a team ERA of 3.37… Has earned two wins over UTSA, Northern Colorado and DePaul… Currently has six players hitting above .300 on the team this season… Kelsey Horton leads the team with a .520 batting average and 13 hits.
UCLA
Currently 10-1 on the season… Batting .393 as a team with a 0.84 ERA… Ranked No. 6 by the NFCA and No. 4 by USA Softball… Has won their last four games… Only loss was splitting a doubleheader with Kentucky at home, with the loss coming in extra innings… Has shut out four teams, while run-ruling four teams… Kylee Perez leads UCLA at the plate with a .564 average, 22 hits and 12 RBIs… Rachel Garcia leads the pitching staff with a 0.23 ERA, four wins and 35 strikeouts.
Utah
Currently 8-0 on the season… Batting .389 on the season with a 0.88 ERA… Have won six of its eight games via shutout… Five wins have come via run-rule… Have not scored fewer than six runs in any of their games so far this season… Will not play a home game until the end of March… Have seven players batting above .300… Katie Donovan leads the pitching staff in wins with five, while Miranda Viramontes has thrown a perfect game and has three wins.
What’s On Deck
LSU heads to Hattiesburg to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Tuesday, Feb 28 at 6 p.m.
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.