LSU Gold

Softball Travels to California for Six Games

by Chelsey Chamberlain
Game Notes +0
Softball Travels to California for Six Games

BATON ROUGE – After starting off the first two weeks with a 10-0 record at home, the seventh-ranked LSU softball team will be hitting the road for the first time in 2018, heading to California for six games in four days.

The Tigers will compete in the Libby Matson Tournament in Stockton, California Thursday and Friday, taking on San Josè State, tournament host Pacific and Nevada. Following the Libby Matson, the Tigers will head to Palm Springs for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic to face Fresno State, No. 3 UCLA and No. 5 Oregon.

All six of LSU’s games this weekend can be followed along via live stats at LSUStats.com. The Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic games will stream live on FloSoftball but does require fans to purchase a subscription.

Weekend Schedule (All times Central)
Libby Matson Tournament
LSU vs. San Josè State, Feb. 22, 4:30 p.m.
LSU vs. Pacific, Feb. 22, 7 p.m.
LSU vs. Nevada, Feb. 23, 1 p.m.

Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
LSU vs. Fresno State, Feb. 24, 4:30 p.m.
LSU vs. No. 3 UCLA, Feb. 24, 7 p.m.
LSU vs. No. 5 Oregon, Feb. 25, 11 a.m.

Series Record Against…
San Josè State: First Meeting
Pacific: LSU leads 2-1
Nevada: First Meeting
Fresno State: LSU leads 2-1
UCLA: UCLA leads 7-3
Oregon: Oregon leads 2-1

About the Tigers
LSU goes into the weekend with a 10-0 record after picking up five more victories in the Purple & Gold Challenge. Sophomore Amanda Doyle leads the offense with a .429 batting average. Over last weekend, she led the Tigers with a .444 mark, two doubles, a home run and 10 RBI. Allie Walljasper and Carley Hoover earned two more victories in the circle each. They are both 4-0 on the year with three shutouts apiece. The two have tallied a combined 59 strikeouts in 56 innings of work.

Scouting the Opposition
San Josè State
The Spartans come into the weekend with a 8-2 record. San Josè State won its first Mountain West Championship and made it to the NCAA Tournament last season but fell in the UCLA Regional. The Spartans return all-conference selection Cassidy Clark, who leads the squad in 2018 with a .367 batting average. In the circle, the Spartans will look to sophomore Desiree Severance and Carolina Bowman. The two are undefeated at 2-0 and 5-0, respectively.

Pacific
Pacific returns West Coast Conference Co-Freshman of the Year and NFCA All-West Region selection Hailey Reed. She helped led them to a 6-4 start this season. Senior Sydney Lahners is leading the team at the plate with a .519 average. She has tallied five home runs and 14 RBI in 10 games. Bethany Hammer is leading the team in ERA at 2.15. She is 1-1 on the year.

Nevada
The Wolf Pack go into the weekend with a 3-7 record. Two of their wins have come against Louisiana Tech. Kenzi Goins leads the office with a .417 average. She has tallied 10 hits, including three for extra bases, to go along with seven RBI. In the circle, Julie Jensen has the lowest ERA on the squad at 3.00. She is 2-3 on the season and has pitched four complete games.

Fresno State
Fresno State, who was a 2017 NCAA Tournament contender, comes into the weekend with a 7-3 record. The Bulldogs are coming off a 4-1 weekend at the Bulldogs Classic. Savannah McHellon leads the team with .346 average and has a team-leading four home runs on the year. In the circle, Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings leads the team with a 3-0 record and 1.40 ERA. In 20.0 innings of work, she has tallied 23 strikeouts and held her opponents to a .227 batting average.

UCLA
UCLA, who the Tigers defeated in game one of the Women’s College World Series in 2017, comes into the weekend with a 10-0 record. Taylor Pack leads the team with a .625 average. UCLA has a 1.17 team ERA with Rachel Garcia leading the way with a 0.61 ERA. She is 3-0 and has 42 strikeouts in 23.0 innings of work. UCLA has outscored its opponents 83-12 in 10 games.

Oregon
Oregon, another opponent that LSU faced in the Women’s College World Series in 2017, goes into the weekend with a 9-1 record. Oregon suffered its first loss of the season to SEC foe No. 15 Ole Miss on Saturday, 1-0 in nine innings. Jenna Lilley leads the team with a .567 batting average and has a team-leading 16 RBI. DJ Sanders leads the team in home runs with six. In the circle, Miranda Elish is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Megan Kleist, who took the loss to Ole Miss, leads the team in strikeouts with 35 in 26.1 innings of work.

What’s On Deck
LSU returns home March 2-4 to play host to the LSU Invitational. The Tigers will take on Illinois State, McNeese State, Purdue and Florida Atlantic. For tickets, click here or call 225-578-2184.

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 @lsusoftball on Instagram.