BATON ROUGE — Riding a nine-game winning streak, the fourth-ranked LSU softball team travel to Lexington, Ky., for a three-game Southeastern Conference series with the Kentucky beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon (CDT).
The series will conclude with a single game on Sunday at noon (CDT). All three games can be heard on the LSU Sports Network in Baton Rouge on Country Legends 107.3 FM and on the internet at www.LSUsports.net.
Coming off a mid-week series sweep at Arkansas, coupled with a mid-week series loss for Georgia, the Tigers (36-7, 13-4 SEC) moved into first place in the overall SEC standings. LSU now holds a half game advantage over UGA in the league.
Kentucky (21-20-1, 5-16 SEC) swept a non-conference doubleheader with Morehead State during the week after taking 1-of-3 from nationally ranked South Carolina last weekend.
“We are coming off a sweep at Arkansas and have been hitting the ball well, but we can’t get complacent,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “Kentucky has taken games off of Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina this season, so you can’t take any game for granted. We just moved into first place in the SEC and we know that we can’t afford to overlook anyone because every game is important and everyone in this league can beat you.”
Sophomore Lauren Castle leads the Tigers with a .368 batting average on the season. The transfer has recorded five doubles, a triple and four home runs. Senior LaDonia Hughes is second on the team, hitting .364, with a team-best 18 stolen bases. Freshman Leslie Klein boasts a .363 average and a team-best 44 runs batted in and 40 runs scored.
In addition Klein has hit 10 of LSU’s 49 home runs this season. Along with sophomore Stephanie Hill, who has 12 home runs this season, they are only the second duo in Tigers softball history to post double-figure home run numbers in the same season.
Senior All-American Kristin Schmidt leads the Tigers in the circle. With a 21-4 record, she has posted a 1.72 earned run average on the year. In addition, she has struck out 190 batters and needs just 18 strikeouts to become the 20th player in NCAA history to record 1,000 career strikeouts. Freshman Emily Turner is second on the team with a 1.77 ERA. She boasts a 14-3 record while having struck out 86 on the year.
Kentucky is led by Rachel Friberg at the plate with a .331 batting average. In addition, she leads the team with nine doubles. Amber Janneck leads the Wildcats with 10 home runs and 28 runs batted in.
Amy Kendall is the ace of the Kentucky pitching staff. With a 7-11 record, she has a 2.93 ERA and 69 strikeouts. Crystalie Wolfe leads the Wildcats with a 2.41 ERA, while boasting a 5-0 record in 11 appearances.
Since LSU reinstated softball in 1997, the Tigers are undefeated at 15-0 all-time against Kentucky, including a 5-0 record in Lexington. The Wildcats are the only SEC team to have never defeated LSU in the previous seven seasons.
The Tigers will be on the road again next weekend as LSU completes its nine-game SEC road trip at Ole Miss. The series begins with a doubleheader on Saturday at 5 p.m. and concludes with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.