NORMAN, Okla. — The eighth-ranked LSU softball team, 16-4, will travel to the University of Oklahoma to participate in the OU/Worth Invitational Friday through Sunday.
Teams participating in the tournament are No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 12 Southern Mississippi, Colorado State, Wichita State and Texas-San Antonio.
The tournament will consist of round robin play throughout the weekend with LSU facing Wichita State at 4 p.m. on Friday followed by Oklahoma at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, the Tigers take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in their only game of the day at 1:30 p.m. LSU will play Texas-San Antonio at 10 a.m. and Colorado State at 12:30 p.m. to conclude the weekend on Sunday.
Both Oklahoma and Southern Miss were present at the 1999 Regional hosted by LSU in Baton Rouge. The Tigers are 1-0 all-time against Oklahoma and 1-2 against USM, defeating them 4-3 recently on February 27 during the Purple and Gold Championship hosted by LSU.
“We have been working on our hitting over the past week to get ready to face tough pitching and competition,” said LSU head coach Glenn Moore. “Our team has worked hard this week and focused on making adjustments to our problem areas to allow us to play at the level we are capable of.”
The Tigers went 3-2 this past weekend at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Lead-Off Classic in Columbus, Ga. LSU was one of two teams to receive an at-large bid to proceed into the Gold bracket of the tournament after going 2-1 in pool play.
The Tigers defeated Boston College 14-1 in five innings with 21 hits as seven Tigers were perfect at the plate. LSU then fell to No. 14 Michigan but defeated No. 19 Hawai’i 8-3.
In the first game of the Gold bracket, LSU upset No. 4 Arizona State with a 6-4 action packed game where the Tigers combined for 11 hits. However, LSU lost to No. 1 Washington 3-0 in the semifinal game to end the weekend.
Junior second baseman Stephanie Hastings was honored as a member of the NFCA Lead-Off All-Classic team.
The LSU softball team will return home to begin regular season play against Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana on March 15 at 5 p.m.