OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — One of the elite in collegiate softball, the third-ranked LSU Tiger softball team will make its first appearance at the 2001 Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, Okla. The Tigers are gearing up to face fourth-ranked Stanford on Thursday at 6 p.m. in the A.S.A. Hall of Fame Stadium.
“I am thrilled about taking this Tiger team to its first Women’s College World Series,” said head coach Yvette Girouard. “This team has been through three coaches in five years, and the five seniors have been there for all three. We have told them that you can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can definitely adjust the sails. They have done just that. Stephanie Hastings has stepped up as the core of the leadership and accepted the coaching change and is a big part of the success.”
The game will be televised live by ESPN 2 (Baton Rouge cable channel 57), and the LSU Sports Network will broadcast the game on 107.3 FM in Baton Rouge and over the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
The dream came true for the Tigers when they defeated the Lady Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette, 2-1, in the NCAA Region 3 Championship in Baton Rouge, La. LSU accomplished this under first year head coach Yvette Girouard, who left Louisiana-Lafayette after a 20 year coaching stint. Girouard has made three previous appearances in the WCWS with the Lady Cajuns in 1993, ’95 and ’96. She becomes only the third coach in history to take two different teams to the “Big Dance,” joining Washington’s Teresa Wilson (Oregon and Washington) and Louisiana Tech’s Bill Galloway (Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech).
The Tigers have accomplished much this 2001 season, winning their fifth-consecutive Western Division Title, their second SEC Tournament Title and the third-consecutive SEC Championship. Now the five-year-old program has won its first Regional Championship and its first trip to the Women’s College World Series.
Junior pitcher Britni Sneed and senior Stephanie Hastings lead the Tigers statistically. Sneed has an ERA of 0.67 and 379 strikeouts for a record of 35-5 for the season. Senior Stephanie Hastings is first on the team with a batting average of .390 with 16 doubles and 48 runs batted in.
LSU has its work cut out for it this weekend, as the Tigers are 4-10 all-time against the WCWS field. LSU has met four of the teams this season, dropping all four games by close margins.
The Tigers enter the weekend with a record of 57-9 to face the sixth seeded Stanford Cardinals who have a record of 52-14-1. This is also Stanford’s first trip to the WCWS.
“I am elated to be here,” said Stanford head coach John Rittman. “The past five years have been a building process for our team. We made Regional appearances the previous three years and failed to do so in the past. We are excited and very deserving. We played LSU in Georgia and I am sure that they have matured, just as we have.”
LSU saw its first opponent Stanford at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in March at Columbus, Ga. The game was a classic pitching duel between LSU’s Britni Sneed and Stanford’s Dana Sorensoen. Both pitchers hurled two-hitters with Sneed retiring 13 at the plate and Sorensoen 12. The difference in the game was two home runs by Jessica Mendoza and Sarah Beeson to give Stanford the 2-0 win.
The Tigers also saw Michigan and California at the Leadoff Classic in the Gold Bracket Championship play. California held the Tigers to one hit and took the contest, 3-0. Sneed only allowed four hits and sat down 11 batters; however, a home run was the deciding factor once again.
LSU took Michigan into extra innings in Columbus. Michigan sent an unearned run across in the top of the fourth inning, and it was matched by the Tigers in the bottom half. Michigan catcher Monica Schock singled in the two winning runs in the top of the eighth.
If the Tigers win Thursday night, they will face the winner of the Iowa/UCLA match-up on Friday at 8:30 p.m. If LSU loses Thursday night, it will face the loser of the aforementioned contest at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.