BATON ROUGE, La. – The No. 13 LSU softball team returns home this weekend to play host to the six-team LSU invitational this Friday-Sunday at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge.
The Tigers will play six games in three days over the course of the event, welcoming Florida Atlantic, Illinois, Illinois State, No. 10 Minnesota and Troy to town in a tournament that will feature 15 total games this weekend. All-non LSU games are free and open to the public, while LSU’s contests will be streamed live online on SEC Network+ with Lyn Rollins and Yvette Girouard and available through WatchESPN and the Watch ESPN app.
Fans making their way to Tiger Park this weekend are reminded of the athletic department’s Geaux Clear bag initiative for fan safety, as well as roadwork being done on Skip Bertman Drive which will restrict flow of traffic coming to the park from Nicholson Drive to one lane.
LSU comes into the weekend with a 13-3 overall record after earning a 4-2 victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg Tuesday night. In the team’s first true road game of the season, the Tigers produced four runs on six hits, coming back from an early 1-0 deficit by scoring a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth inning to pull ahead and stay ahead for good.
The only player with multiple hits in the game against USM is the same player leading the team in batting average and total hits in senior Bailey Landry. Landry was 2-for-4 in the game and is currently hitting .547 with 29 total hits, also leading the team with nine multi-hit outings this season.
Along with Landry as one of two players on the team with 20 hits is fellow senior Sahvanna Jaquish who is batting .408 with a team leading 21 RBIs on the year. She remains nine shy of breaking the career RBI mark and 11 home runs shy of the career home run mark.
In the circle, Sydney Smith had another solid performance as she improved to 5-1 on the year by holding Southern Miss to two runs, one earned, on four hits with seven strikeouts. Smith tied Allie Walljasper for the team pitching staff lead in wins as Walljasper is also 5-1, while Smith’s ERA dropped to a stingy 0.94.
LSU’s competition will all be coming in with winning records, including facing a ranked foe in undefeated and tenth-ranked Minnesota at 14-0, while Florida Atlantic comes in with 12 wins, Troy with 10, Illinois with eight and Illinois State with six.
The Rundown
No. 13/12 LSU vs. Illinois State, March 3, 5 p.m., SEC Network+
No. 13/12 LSU vs. Florida Atlantic, March 3, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network+
No. 13/12 LSU vs. Illinois, March 4, 5:30 p.m., SEC Network+
No. 13/12 LSU vs. No. 10/11 Minnesota, March 4, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network+
No. 13/12 LSU vs. Florida Atlantic, March 5, 1 p.m., SEC Network+
No. 13/12 LSU vs. Troy, March 5, 3 p.m., SEC Network+
Marketing/Giveaways
LSU 2016-17 Sports Posters/Magnets/Pocket Schedules at the Fan Zone
Torina’s Thoughts
On the team’s performance through the last six games away from Baton Rouge…
“We’ve had some ups and downs. I’m not sure we’ve played our best softball yet and that it’s still in front of us. We’ve had some good moments and we’ve had some moments where we need to be a lot better. So, high’s and low’s, but that’s how the game goes.”
On facing quality teams early in the season…
“We’ve played a tough strength of schedule since I’ve been here. This is nothing less than that and these players come to LSU for a challenge. They want to be challenged.”
On the strong opponents in the LSU Invitational this weekend…
“One of the biggest challenges for the coaching staff is preparing for five different opponents and six in one week. It’s a little overwhelming, but we just try to learn as much as we can about all of them. They all bring something different to the table. Minnesota is just quality top to bottom. Illinois really swings the bats. FAU can really run. So there’s a lot things about each team that they all do something well and we’re just going to have to play great softball all weekend long.”
Series Record Against…
Florida Atlantic: LSU leads 2-1
Illinois: Series tied 2-2
Illinois State: LSU leads 2-0
Minnesota: Minnesota leads 1-0
Troy: LSU leads 7-0
LSU Leaders
Batting Average: Bailey Landry (.547)
Hits: Bailey Landry (29)
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/Emily Griggs/Bailey Landry (3)
ERA: Sydney Smith (0.94)
Wins: Allie Walljasper/Sydney Smith (5)
Strikeouts: Carley Hoover (45)
Shutouts: Carley Hoover (2)
Fewest Walks Allowed: Allie Walljasper (5)
Opponent Batting Avg.: Carley Hoover (.130)
Scouting the Opposition
Florida Atlantic
Comes into the weekend 12-3 on the season… Has been ranked or received votes in every major national poll since the beginning of the season… Head coach Joan Joyce has been the only coach in FAU history spanning over 20 seasons and has earned over 800 wins in her career… Joyce spent 19 years on the LPGA Tour and was the FAU women’s golf coach as well as holding softball head coaching duties… FAU is hitting .302 on the season as a team… In the circle, the Owls have a 1.19 ERA, led by Kylee Hanson’s 0.91 average, 5-1 record and three shutouts.
Illinois
Is 8-5 overall on the season… Led by second-year head coach and former LSU softball standout Tyra Perry… Perry was a part of two SEC Western Division titles, as during her stint she led the team in home runs in both seasons as she went on to be named All-SEC, SEC All-Tournament Team and twice to the SEC Academic Honor Roll… The Illini are hitting .369 at the plate and have earned 139 total hits on the season… Illinois has hit 20 doubles and 16 home runs in 13 games… Illinois has an ERA of 4.06 and an opponent batting average of .272… Illinois also features former LSU student manager Lance McMahon who is now an assistant coach.
Illinois State
Currently 6-5 on the season… Led by head coach Melinda Fischer who is one of 18 coaches with over 1,000 wins in her career… ISU dropped close losses to South Florida (5-4) and Michigan (4-2), while earning a win over a ranked Missouri team (7-3) in Arizona… The Redbirds have a team batting average of .302, while holding an ERA of 3.88 in the circle.
Minnesota
Currently off to its best start in program history at 14-0… Ranked No. 10 in the NFCA poll for the first time in program history, while sitting at No. 11 in the USA Softball poll… The Gophers are led by seventh-year head coach Jessica Allister… Minnesota is hitting .347 at the plate as a team, with seven different players having double figure hits on the year… The Minnesota pitching staff has an ERA of 1.67, paced by two-time All-American Sara Groenewegen’s 7-0 record and 0.66 ERA.
Troy
Troy is 10-7 on the season… Led by third-year head coach Beth Mullins… Troy has earned notable wins over NC State and Pitt… The Trojans are hitting .286 as a team on the year, while having an ERA of 3.38 in the circle.
What’s On Deck
LSU opens Southeastern Conference play next week, hitting the road to take on the Auburn Tigers in a three game series at Jane B. Moore Field.
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.