BATON ROUGE — After taking 2-of-3 from Arkansas in a mid-week series, the LSU softball team continues Southeastern Conference action this weekend against Kentucky, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Tiger Park.
The series will conclude with a single game on Sunday at noon. It is “Kids Take Over the Park” weekend and children will get a chance to perform some of the duties during the game including announcing upcoming batters over the public address system.
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 LSUsports.net. The final game of the series will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.
After losing the first game to Arkansas during the week, the Tigers (20-14, 4-11 SEC) rebounded and took back-to-back games from the Lady Razorbacks to win the series. In the final game, LSU rallied from a 4-3 deficit to take the 6-4 win on a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning by Kristen Hobbs.
“I am very happy for our team to have gotten the win this week,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We have to keep focused on what we need to do on the field and try to put together a complete series. We’re not really concentrating on our opponent, but on what we need to do to be successful.”
Kentucky enters the series at 16-29, 2-15 in SEC play. The Wildcats defeated Eastern Kentucky, 2-0, on Wednesday after dropping a doubleheader to South Carolina last weekend, losing both games by run-rule.
Junior Lauren Castle leads the Tigers with a .402 batting average, while sophomore Vanessa Soto boasts a team-best 15 doubles and 33 RBIs. Junior Stephanie Hill is riding a season-best seven-game hitting streak, while Soto is one behind her with a six-game streak of her own.
As a team, LSU is hitting .319 on the season. The Tigers have recorded 67 doubles, eight triples and 28 home runs, while stealing 56 bases with a .501 slugging percentage.
In the circle, sophomore Emily Turner leads LSU with a 9-9 record and a 2.93 earned run average. In the third game against Arkansas, she came on in relief and earned the win, retiring all nine batters she faced including the first five of six by strikeout. The Tigers have a 2.94 team ERA this season with seven complete-game shutouts and a .224 opponent’s batting average against, while striking out 196.
Brooke Marnitz leads UK with a .325 batting average, while Amber Janneck has a team-best six home runs and Alli Eckman has 16 RBIs. As a team, the Wildcats are hitting .211 on the season with 31 doubles, eight triples and 17 home runs.
Samantha Allen leads Kentucky in the circle with a 10-12 record in 36 appearances with a 5.51 ERA. The Wildcat staff has posted a 5.28 ERA with 143 strikeouts and six shutouts.
Kentucky assistant coach Ashley Lewis will be returning to Baton Rouge after a four year absence. Lewis was a three-year letterwinner in the circle for the Tigers from 1999-2001. An NFCA first-team All-South Region and first-team All-SEC selection in 1999, she was also a member of the SEC All-Tournament team in 1999 and 2000.
LSU is 18-0 all-time against Kentucky, making the Wildcats the only team in the SEC yet to record a win over the Tigers. LSU is 10-0 all-time against Kentucky at home, while Girouard is 12-0 all-time against the Wildcats, all while at LSU.