BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU softball team returns to action on Tuesday evening, traveling to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
Links to live stats of the game will be available at LSUsports.net, with updates from Hattiesburg on the team’s social media pages on Facebook and Twitter.
The Tigers head into the contest with a 12-3 overall record after going 3-2 at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in California over the weekend. LSU earned wins over New Mexico State, Bethune-Cookman and Long Beach State, all via run-rule, dropping a heartbreaker in extras to UCLA and close game to Utah to close.
LSU’s offense continued to roll throughout the weekend as the Tigers finished the tournament batting .352 as a team, as on the season LSU is blistering opponents with a .375 overall hitting clip. The squad boasted 44 hits to their opponents’ 21, outscoring the five teams they played 39-10. LSU was able to display its power hitting seven doubles, two triples and seven home runs in just three days of action.
Leading the way and playing for the first time in her home state as a Tiger, freshman Amanda Doyle hit .571 with eight hits, including three home runs and a double for a 1.286 slugging percentage. Doyle hit two home runs in consecutive at-bats against UCLA on Saturday, holding a .600 on-base percentage on the weekend.
With her nine RBIs in the classic, senior Sahvanna Jaquish now has 228 for her career in the Purple & Gold. With eight more RBIs she will tie record holder Bianka Bell for most in school history at 236, with nine giving her the record all alone. This season, Jaquish ranks among the active leaders in Division I in games played, total at-bats, RBIs, walks, total bases and home runs, as she hit her first last weekend to give her 48 for her career, 11 shy of setting the career home run mark which Bell also holds.
The pitching staff had a particularly stingy weekend as well, posting a 0.74 ERA and holding opponents to a .206 batting average. In a combined 28.1 innings, LSU pitchers posted two shutouts, while striking out 18 and allowing just 10 runs, of which three were earned.
Sophomore Sydney Smith allowed just unearned one run in 8.1 innings in earning a shutout win, while Allie Walljasper posted the other shutout and did not issue a walk in seven innings. Freshman Maribeth Gorsuch earned her first collegiate win as she struck out five and also did not issue a walk. Carley Hoover had the second-lowest opponent batting average on the team on the weekend with a .179 average, only second to Gorsuch’s .176.
LSU will be traveling to face Southern Miss in Hattiesburg for the first time since 2011, as the two teams squared off last season in a midweek contest with LSU coming out on top 5-0. All-time, LSU is 21-5 against the Golden Eagles. Tiger senior Constance Quinn will play in front of a hometown crowd as the infielder is from the city and prepped at Oak Grove High School.
The Rundown
LSU at Southern Miss, Feb. 28, 6 p.m.
Series Record Against…
Southern Miss: LSU leads 21-5
LSU Leaders
Batting Average: Bailey Landry (.551)
Hits: Bailey Landry (27)
Doubles: Amanda Doyle/Sahvanna Jaquish (5)
Triples: Bailey Landry (3)
Home Runs: Amanda Doyle/Amber Serrett (3)
RBI: Sahvanna Jaquish (21)
Stolen Bases: Nicky Dawson/Bailey Landry/Emily Griggs (3)
ERA: Sydney Smith (0.93)
Wins: Allie Walljasper (5)
Strikeouts: Carley Hoover (45)
Shutouts: Carley Hoover (2)
Fewest Walks Allowed: Allie Walljasper (5)
Opponent Batting Avg.: Carley Hoover (.130)
Scouting the Opposition
Southern Miss
Southern Miss comes into the contest against LSU with a 9-6 overall record… USM is coached by Wendy Hogue, who has a 57-68 mark through three seasons as head coach… The Golden Eagles have won their last three games, coming via a sweep over Jacksonville State at home last weekend… Southern Miss earned back-to-back wins over a ranked Louisiana-Lafayette side earlier this season in Lafayette… USM has a team batting average of .219, led by Caitlyn Aldous’ .333 mark… Lauren Holifield has a team leading 14 hits and eight RBIs for the Golden Eagles… Southern Miss has a staff ERA of 2.22… Jillian Johnson leads the staff with a 1.54 ERA, while Kim Crowson leads the team in wins with four.
What’s on Deck
LSU will host the three-day, 15-game LSU Invitational this Friday-Sunday in Baton Rouge against Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Illinois State, Minnesota and Troy.
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.