BATON ROUGE – The No. 15 LSU softball team steps out of SEC action and heads to Thibodaux to face Nicholls State Wednesday for a 6 p.m. contest at the Colonel Softball Complex.
The Tigers (32-9, 11-5 SEC) are coming off a weekend sweep of Mississippi State, while Nicholls State (20-11, 12-6 SLC) dropped two of three games to Texas State.
“We took care of business and put the losing streak behind us over the weekend,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “I was pleased with how the players responded, but we’ll need to continue to play our best to take care of an improved Nicholls team. We always have a battle on our hands in Thibadaux.”
LSU notched a 7-0 over the Colonels earlier this season in Baton Rouge. The Tigers used a strong finishing kick to break open a 1-0 game with three runs in the fourth, a pair of runs in the fifth and tacked on an insurance run during the sixth.
Kirsten Shortridge came away with three hits and three RBIs, while Allison Falcon collected two hits and a walk en route to three runs scored.
Shortridge continues to rank among the SEC’s Top 10 in average (.401), hits (57), stolen bases (34) and runs (34). Anissa Young and Rachel Mitchell have picked up 32 and 30 RBIs, respectively. Ashley Langoni ranks just outside the league’s top 10 with eight home runs.
Rachele Fico entered the Nicholls game with the bases loaded and one out during the fourth inning. She recorded back-to-back strikeouts and went onto to retire all 11 Nicholls batters she faced, six via the strikeout, in her 3.2 frames of no-hit relief.
Fico has garnered a staff-best 12 wins, held opponents to a .180 hitting clip and racked up 101 strikeouts in 97.1 innings of work. Cody Trahan checks in at 9-2 with a staff-low 0.99 ERA, while Brittany Mack has posted an 8-2 record and a 1.17 ERA. Shortridge also has compiled a 3-1 mark in the circle.
“Our goal is to be sharper and always make better pitches in the circle,” Girouard said. “I’d like to get Kirsten back into the circle at some point because we could need her down the stretch.”
LSU’s .977 fielding percentage not only highlights the SEC but is ranked fourth in the nation. The Tigers have committed only 25 errors in 41 games.
“Defensively, this infield is as good as we’ve had it for a long time,” Girouard said. “It’s a solid, cohesive unit that makes unbelievable plays and works well together. We’d like to get some more offensive production. They’re all working hard in the batting cages and are great athletes who will eventually come through for us.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcasted live on ESPN 104.5 and The X 104.9 FM in the Baton Rouge area with Patrick Wright and Matt Dunaway set to call the action. Live stats also are available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net along with in-game updates via www.twitter.com/lsu_softball.