BATON ROUGE — For the second time in the last three seasons, the No. 18 LSU softball team welcomes the No. 1 team in the nation to the Capitol City as Florida visits the new Tiger Park for a weekend series.
Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s single game get underway at 1 p.m. as part of Super Tiger weekend on the LSU campus. Fans can download their Super Tiger Fan Card above and bring it to the Fan Zone to get a sticker for attending.
Top-ranked Tennessee brought a 25-game winning streak to Baton Rouge in 2007 before LSU won two of three in front of the program’s two largest crowds at the old Tiger Park.
“The team’s psyche has been very good from day one,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “They don’t think they’ll get beat by anyone. That isn’t intended as a cocky statement, but our team has a lot of confidence in their abilities. Its coach-speak to tell our players this weekend is just another series. This is what our players came to LSU for. It’s a huge series on one of the biggest stages in college softball.”
LSU (27-10-1, 10-6-1 SEC) is batting a scorching .382 as a team over its last five games. The Tigers are coming off an impressive 11-for-24 effort with runners in scoring position during a doubleheader sweep of Southeastern Louisiana.
Shortridge and Jackson, the top two hitters in the LSU lineup, head into the weekend series with 11 and 12 game hitting streaks, respectively.
Shortridge has produced nine of her team-leading 20 multi-hit games during the streak en route to a .423 batting average. She also has swiped 18 of LSU’s 35 stolen bases this season.
Jackson’s 12-game streak is the second longest streak of her career. The Houston native tallied a 13-game streak from Feb. 18-March 2 during the 2007 season.
“Jazz is having the best season of her career and is playing like the type of player that we recruited,” Girouard said. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence right now and executing extremely well behind Kirsten in the lineup.”
After Wednesday’s 5-for-7 performance with five RBIs against Southeastern Louisiana, Rachel Mitchell has boosted her average to .321 and drove home 18 of her team-best 30 RBIs over the last 16 games.
Juliana Santos, reigning SEC Freshman and LSWA Hitter of the Week, has recorded a hit in 16 of her last 21 games. Anissa Young has seen her batting average climb from .190 to .272 over the last 14 games. The pair teams with Ashley Langoni and the freshmen trio has racked up 40.1 percent (65-of-162) of the Tigers RBIs this season.
Ashley Applegate and Jessica Mouse also have been keys to LSU’s success over the last five games. Applegate is 9-for-18 at the plate with five RBIs, while Mouse has reached base in 11-of-17 plate appearances.
In the circle, Cody Trahan is coming off a season-best 11 strikeouts during the Arkansas series finale. She retired 13 of the first 14 Razorback hitters she faced and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning.
Casey Faile has surrendered only one earned run stretching over 29.2 innings during her last 10 appearances, while Brittany Mack has won eight of her last nine decisions en route to an 11-2 record.
All three games of the Florida series will be live on The X 104.5 and 104.9 FM in the Baton Rouge area. Patrick Wright is set to call all of the action and live stats also are available on LSUSports.net. Saturday’s games also are televised live on CST.
As part of “Bark in the Park”, fans can bring their dog to Sunday’s game. Free admission is available by providing a pet supply donation to the Capital Area Animal Welfare Society (CAAWS). Donation suggestions include toys, collars, leashes and bleach. There will be restricted areas on the concourse and berm where fans can sit with their dogs.