BATON ROUGE – The No. 10/9 LSU softball team continues its home stand this weekend, playing host to the Purple & Gold Challenge, March 1-3. The Tigers welcome in USC Upstate, No. 15/16 Indiana, Illinois State and Stephen F. Austin.
All five of LSU’s games this weekend will be streamed online through SEC Network+ and WatchESPN with Lyn Rollins and Yvette Girouard.
The Tigers go into the weekend with a 14-3 record after a 8-0 five-inning walk-off win over Kent St. on Tuesday. Amanda Doyle hit a three-run bomb in the bottom of the fifth to run-rule the Golden Flashes.
Last weekend, the Tigers picked up victories over Michigan, CSUN and Memphis last weekend. Shelbi Sunseri picked up two victories in the circle and also contributed at the plate, hitting .500 and tallying six RBI, 14 total bases and two home runs.
Freshmen Shelby Wickersham and Ali Kilponen both tossed shutout victories. Wickersham shutout and faced the minimum number of batters against Michigan, while Kilponen recorded her second win on the year, a five-inning shutout over CSUN.
Aliyah Andrews led the Tigers at the plate with a .538 batting average. She tallied seven hits and five stolen bases. She now has 13 stolen bases on the season.
Single-game tickets for the 2019 LSU softball season are now on sale through the LSU Ticket Office and online at LSUtix.net. For more information on the 2019 softball schedule, click here.
Tickets
Tickets are still available for all games this weekend. Visit LSUtix.net or by calling the LSU Ticket Office at 225-578-2184. Single-game tickets for the 2019 LSU softball season are now on sale through the LSU Ticket Office and online at LSUtix.net. For more information on the 2019 softball schedule, click here.
Weekend Schedule
LSU vs. USC Upstate, March 1, 5 p.m., SEC Network+
LSU vs. No. 16 Indiana, March 1, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network+
LSU vs. Stephen F. Austin, March 2, 5 p.m., SEC Network+
LSU vs. Illinois St., March 2, 7:30 p.m., SEC Network+
LSU vs. Stephen F. Austin, March 3, 11:30 a.m., SEC Network+
For a full weekend schedule, click here.
Series Record Against…
USC Upstate: First Meeting
Indiana: LSU leads 2-0
Illinois St.: LSU leads 4-0
Stephen F. Austin: LSU leads 9-1
Scouting the Opposition
USC Upstate
USC Upstate is 11-1 on the year after a midweek win over Duke Wednesday evening. Christina Biggerstaff has led the Spartans in the circle with a 6-0 record. She owns a 0.72 ERA and two shutouts to go along with 63 strikeouts in 38.2 innings of work. At the plate, the Spartans are hitting .316 with Alyssa Oakes leading the way. She is hitting .419 with six home runs and seven RBI. The Spartans have outscored their opponents 61-17 this season.
Indiana
Indiana comes into Tiger Park as one of five teams that are still undefeated in the nation. The Hoosiers are ranked 16/15 in the polls which is their best ranking in program history. They come in at 14-0, nine of those wins coming from Tara Trainer in the circle. She owns a 0.84 ERA and has struck out 65 batters in 58.0 innings of work. At the plate, Taylor Lambert leads the squad with a .349 average. She is 11-for-11 on stolen bases. Katie Lacefield leads the team in home runs with five and 10 RBI.
Illinois St.
The Red Birds are 3-12 on the year. This is their second-straight trip to Baton Rouge. The Tigers defeated the Red Birds last year at Tiger Park in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the 10th inning, 1-0. Ali Domkuski leads the team in the circle with a 2-1 record. She owns a 2.18 ERA. At the plate, Shannon Felde leads with a .349 average. She has scored a team-high 10 runs this season.
Stephen F. Austin
The Jacks come into the weekend with an 11-5 record after coming off with two wins in the Mardi Gras Invitational at South Alabama. Brittany Crawford leads the team with a .366 batting average. She has three home runs and 14 RBI. In the circle, Kassidy Wilbur leads the way with a 1.73 ERA and a 6-4 record. She has struck out 72 batters in 52.2 innings of work.
What’s On Deck
The Tigers are back on the road next week for a midweek match up at Northwestern St. on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. The game will air on Cox Sports Television. The Tigers will then hit the road for their first SEC series, heading to College Station to take on Texas A&M, March 8-10.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball along with @lsusoftball and @BethTorina on Twitter and @lsusoftball on Instagram.