BATON ROUGE — The LSU softball, seeded 15th overall nationally, will begin its quest for the third Women’s College World Series berth in school history as the Tigers face Princeton at 7 p.m. at Tiger Park in the NCAA Softball Baton Rouge Regional on Friday.
All of LSU’s NCAA Regional games will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network in Baton Rouge on The X – 104.5/104.9 FM. The broadcasts can also be heard in the GeauxZone powered by USAgencies on LSUsports.net. The NCAA Regional championship game or games will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37.
Fans can purchase tickets for the NCAA Regional Tournament online at LSUsports.net. All-Session tickets are $40 for adults and $25 for youth under 12 years of age. The all-session tickets are good for every game of the regional tournament. Single-game tickets are also available for $6 for adults and $4 for youth under 12.
The purple and gold (51-12) are coming off a run through the SEC Tournament to the championship game, including wins over No. 21 Auburn and No. 8 Georgia, before falling to No. 4 Tennessee in the title game. LSU earned an at-large bid as the 15th overall national seed and is the No. 1 seed in the Baton Rouge regional.
“I’ve been pleased with my team all year, but I realized in the SEC Tournament that they understand the urgency of this time of the season,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “They understand that now on a weekend basis their season could be done. They are happy to be home and I’m very grateful for the seniors that we are at home. I’ve been about 99.9-percent very happy with this team.”
Princeton (34-17) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Ivy League. The Tigers went 12-2 to win the conference regular season and claim the bid since the Ivy League does not have a tournament.
This is mark the first NCAA Regional held at Tiger Park since 2001, when LSU advanced through regional play undefeated to advance to its first WCWS in school history. This season, the Fighting Tigers are 31-3 at home, tying the record for most home wins in a season.
“You would hope that playing at home is an edge,” said Girouard. “We’ve only played at home once in my tenure at LSU and it was a good thing. You would hope that it is a positive because it should be a positive.
“I think our kids are used to this surface,” Girouard continued. “They are used to this park, which I think is definitely an advantage because we have one of the biggest parks in the country. Our outfielders know how to play angles and know how to play this facility and I think sometimes when you come in it is deceiving how big this park is.”
If the Tigers were to win the Baton Rouge Regional, they are paired against the winner of the Arizona Regional and would likely travel to Tucson, Ariz., to face second-seeded Arizona if the Wildcats advanced out of their regional. The winner of that Super Regional would advance to the Women’s College World Series.
First-Team All-SEC selection Emily Turner leads LSU in the circle. The junior hurler ranks fourth in the NCAA with a 0.69 earned run average and is 18th in wins with a 25-7 record. Freshman Dani Hofer earned SEC All-Freshman team honors after recording a 15-5 record in the circle with a 2.12 ERA.
As a team, the Tigers have a 1.20 earned run average, the eighth best mark in the nation this season. LSU has recorded 30 complete-game shutouts in 63 games, including a team-best 16 by Turner, which is tied for the second most in LSU single-season history. In addition, the Tigers are averaging nearly eight strikeouts a game and have recorded 450 on the season.
At the plate, junior first-team All-SEC selection Leslie Klein leads LSU with a .394 batting average, including 14 doubles and a team-best seven home runs and 49 RBIs. In addition, she has recorded 16 stolen bases. Senior Lauren Castle is second on the team with a .368 average with six doubles and three homers, while sophomore first-team NFCA All-South Region selection Vanessa Soto has a .362 average with a team-best 16 doubles.
“We have been trying to push the right buttons offensively to get to this point,” said Girouard. “I always coach with my gut and sometimes you also make a line-up with experience. With kids that have been in games with this type of magnitude in the postseason that usually rise to the occasion. That usually plays into the decision too. Maybe their bats have been quiet, but you have to figure they have been there and done that so they can handle it.”
LSU has hit .308 as a team this season, including 99 doubles, a mark that is tied for the second-most in Tiger history and the fifth most in SEC history. In addition, LSU broke the conference record for sacrifice flies with 29 this year. The Tigers rank 15th nationally in batting average and 20th in slugging percentage. Averaging over five runs a game, LSU is 21st in the NCAA in scoring.
Princeton is led by a pair of outstanding pitchers. Erin Snyder is 17-5 this season with a 0.79 earned run average with eight complete-game shutouts. Kristen Schaus is 16-9 on the year with a 1.67 ERA and three shutouts. The pair have combined for over 500 strikeouts as the Tigers have a 1.45 team ERA on the season.
“I’ve got feel that we are prepared to see any kind of match up pitching wise,” said Girouard. We’ve seen tremendous pitchers, people that will probably be first-team All-Americans week in and week out. If we are disciplined then I don’t really think that we are going to see anything that we haven’t seen before.
“Are the pitchers good? Absolutely. They wouldn’t be here and be the pitchers of the year in their conferences if they weren’t good, but I believe that we play in a legitimate nationally contending conference for 30 games.”
At the plate, Princeton is led by Kathryn Welch with a .342 average, including nine doubles and six home runs. Amanda Erickson leads the Tigers with seven home runs and 13 doubles, while posting a team-best 31 RBIs. As a team, Princeton is hitting at a .279 clip with 70 doubles and 32 home runs.
If LSU defeats Princeton, the purple and gold will advance to face the winner of the NC State-UL-Lafayette game on Saturday at 1 p.m. With a loss, LSU would face elimination against the loser of the NCSU-ULL game at 4 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 1p.m. with an “if necessary” game to follow at 4p.m. if the undefeated team loses in the first meeting.
GAME FACTS:
LSU Tigers (51-12, 22-8 SEC) vs. Princeton Tigers (34-17, 12-2 Ivy League)
DATE/TIME: Friday, May 19 – 7 p.m.
RANKINGS:
LSU (#12 NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll, #10 ESPN/USA Softball Poll)
Princeton (Not Ranked)
STADIUM: Tiger Park (1,000)
RADIO: The X – 104.5/104.9 FM
TELEVISION: None
INTERNET:
Audio broadcast and live stats in the GeauxZone powered by USAgencies at www.LSUsports.net
SERIES RECORD: First Meeting.