BATON ROUGE — Having won eight of their last nine, including five straight, the LSU softball team steps out of Southeastern Conference play for the final time this season as the Tigers host Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park for “Wacky Wednesday”.
The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Network in Baton Rouge on Country Legends 107.3 FM. Fans can also listen to the game on the internet at www.LSUsports.net.
After sweeping Ole Miss last weekend, LSU enters the contest with a 26-15 overall record and a 9-12 mark in SEC play. The Lady Lions stand at 17-23 on the season and 9-12 in Southland Conference action after taking 2-of-3 from Northwestern State last weekend.
“This is a great chance for us to close out our non-conference schedule on a high note with our last mid-week game,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We have been playing much better and hopefully we can continue to build on that momentum as we head into the difficult final stretch of the regular season.”
The Tigers are currently in sixth place in the SEC standings, a half game ahead of Mississippi State in seventh and three games ahead of Ole Miss in ninth place with 12 conference games remaining. The top eight teams in the league advance to the SEC Tournament next month.
Junior designated player Lauren Castle continues to lead LSU with a .399 batting average, which ranks fifth in the SEC, followed closely by junior first baseman Stephanie Hill with a .389 average. Freshman second baseman Vanessa Soto leads the team and ranks second in the league with 16 doubles, while junior center fielder Camille Harris and freshman right fielder Quinlan Duhon share the team lead with seven home runs each, which places them ninth in the SEC.
Sophomore All-American left fielder Leslie Klein and junior third baseman Lauren Delahoussaye have been on a tear at the plate as of late. In the last seven games, Delahoussaye is 11-for-19 (.579) with a double, seven RBIs and six runs scored, improving her season average from .202 to .271. Klein is 11-for-21 (.524) over the last seven games with two doubles, six RBIs and six runs scored, improving her batting average from .247 to .315.
As a team, the Tigers are hitting at a .318 clip on the season with 76 doubles, seven triples and 29 home runs for a .480 slugging percentage. LSU ranks 10th in the NCAA in batting average and second in the nation in doubles per game. In addition, the Tigers rank 11th in the NCAA in slugging percentage and 13th in scoring average.
Karin Smith leads the Lady Lions with a .317 batting average, 12 home runs and 25 RBIs, while Rebecca de la Garza has recorded a team-best seven doubles with four home runs and 23 RBIs. As a team, SLU is hitting .235 on the season with 35 doubles, four triples and 19 home runs.
In the circle, sophomore Emily Turner leads LSU with a 14-9 record and a 2.27 earned run average on the season. The reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week, she has won six straight appearances, posting a 0.19 ERA with two complete-game shutouts and 44 strikeouts in 36 innings while allowing opponents to hit just .124 against her in the current streak.
A pair of freshmen complete the Tiger pitching staff. Megan Jolly is 5-4 on the year with a 2.98 ERA, while Tiffany Garcia is 7-2 with a 3.36 ERA. The Tigers as a team have a 2.71 ERA with nine complete-game shutouts while averaging 6.5 strikeouts per seven innings.
Devin King leads the Lady Lions in the circle with an 8-7 record and a 3.53 earned run average. She has posted one complete-game shutout with 46 strikeouts in 20 appearances. SLU has a team 4.04 ERA with four shutouts and 139 strikeouts.
LSU is 5-0 all-time against Southeastern Louisiana with all five games at Tiger Park. The Tigers have won every meeting against the Lady Lions, outscoring SLU, 36-13. Head coach Yvette Girouard is 47-1 all-time against Southeastern, including a 4-0 record at LSU.
The Tigers return to SEC play this weekend on the road at nationally ranked Auburn. LSU will face No. 20 AU in a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing out the series on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m. Auburn is four and a half games ahead of LSU in fifth place in the SEC standings.