AUSTIN, Texas — Coming off their fifth-consecutive appearance in the Southeastern Conference Tournament championship game, the fourth-seeded LSU softball team will open NCAA Regional play against fifth-seeded Hawai’i on Thursday at 9 a.m. at Red & Charline McCombs Field on the campus of the University of Texas.
The Tigers (49-16) are making their sixth-straight appearance in NCAA Tournament play. Last season, LSU advanced to the regional finals before falling to Arizona State. In 2001, the Tigers made their first Women’s College World Series appearance after defeating UL-Lafayette in the regional finals.
“We are excited to play,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Anytime you play in a regional atmosphere with a chance to go to the Women’s College World Series, there is excitement in the air. We had a great day. We had a good practice this morning. Everyone seems to be recovered from the long weekend and we are ready to get started tomorrow morning.”
Playing in their sixth NCAA Tournament, the Wahine (37-18) are in postseason play for the first time since 2001 when they went 0-2 in regional action at Arizona.
The SEC Tournament’s most valuable player Kristin Schmidt leads the Tigers in the circle. Sporting a 33-13 record for the season with a 1.07 earned run average, the junior from Houston is just four wins from breaking the LSU single-season record for victories. In addition, she has recorded 337 strikeouts, the third most in a season in school history.
At the plate, LaDonia Hughes has the best batting average by an active player on the team. In addition, she leads the team in runs scored, triples and stolen bases. Christy Connor has proved the team with power at the plate with a team-best 10 home runs, two shy of the LSU single-season record.
Sophomore Tessa Lynam and junior Julie Wiese have also proved a punch at the plate with nine homers each, part of the school record 47 the Tigers have recorded this year. In addition, Lynam sports a 16-3 record in the circle with 141 strikeouts and a 2.14 ERA.
In the five previous NCAA Tournament appearances by LSU, the Tigers have posted a 16-10 overall record. This will mark the first meeting for LSU against Hawai’i in postseason play. The Tigers defeated the Wahine 8-3 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. during the 2000 season.
If LSU wins on Thursday morning, the Tigers will take on the winner of the Thursday’s Texas-Texas A&M-Corpus Christi game on Friday at 11:30 a.m. With a loss, LSU would turn around and play the loser of the Texas-Texas A&M-Corpus Christ game on Thursday night at 8 p.m.