AUBURN, Ala. — The sixth-ranked LSU softball team takes its Southeastern Conference Western Division lead to Auburn this weekend as the Fighting Tigers face AU in a three-game series beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and concluding with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The games will be broadcast in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM and also in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net. In addition, all three games will have live stats available on LSUsports.net.
LSU (32-7, 7-2 SEC) are currently leading No. 3 Alabama in the SEC Western Division race and just behind No. 1 Tennessee for the overall conference lead, having taken 2-of-3 from the Crimson Tide in Baton Rouge last weekend. Auburn (17-19, 6-7 SEC) sits in fourth place in the SEC West after taking a doubleheader at Arkansas on Tuesday, but AU has lost seven of its last 10.
“This is an Auburn team that we have to be very wary of,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “They could be a team playing possum. Their backs were up against the wall, but they are starting to play a little better. They didn’t start off so well, but have a little winning streak going now. We’ve got them at Auburn, so we have to be very aware of the talent they have on their team. The bottom line is that we have to play LSU Tiger softball.”
At the plate for the season, junior Dee Dee Henderson leads LSU with a .448 batting average. The Atlanta, Texas, native also leads the team with 21 stolen bases, and ranks fourth on the team with 26 runs scored. Senior Leslie Klein, junior Killian Roessner and freshman Jazz Jackson are also all hitting over .400 for the Tigers, coming in at .426, .424 and .409 respectively.
Klein leads the SEC with 15 doubles, five shy of the Tiger single-season record. Roessner is tied with Quinlan Duhon and Kristen Hobbs for the team lead in home runs with five and Roessner ranks second in the SEC with 10 doubles. Over the last five games, junior Andrea Smith leads LSU with a .467 average. The SEC Player of the Week posted seven hits in 15 at-bats with two doubles, a grand slam, and eight RBIs as the Tigers have gone 4-1.
As a team, the Tigers lead the SEC with 61 doubles, 20 ahead of the closest team, while ranking second in the conference with a .330 batting average. LSU also leads the league with 320 hits and is second with 191 RBIs. The Tigers are in the top three in the SEC in almost every statistical category.
Holly Currie leads Auburn with a .309 batting average, seven home runs and 21 RBIs, while Ashley Arcuri leads AU with six doubles. As a team Auburn is hitting at a .240 clip for the season with 25 doubles, one triple and 19 home runs. Auburn has also only stolen 27 bases, while being thrown out 10 times.
In the circle, junior Tiffany Garcia is 5-0 on the year with a 1.04 earned run average, while freshman Cody Trahan is also undefeated at 4-0 with a spotless 0.00 ERA. Among the regular SEC starters, sophomore Dani Hofer is 12-1 with a 1.31 earned run average, including a team-best 138 strikeouts and seven complete-game shutouts. Emily Turner is 11-4 on the year with a 1.37 ERA and 110 strikeouts, while LSU boasts a 1.15 team ERA with 18 shutouts, while holding opponents to a meager .152 batting average.
Hofer went 1-0 last weekend with a save to earn Louisiana Pitcher of the Week honors. She allowed four runs in an eight-inning win over Alabama in the second game of the series, just the second loss for the Crimson Tide on the season and the highest ranked team Hofer has defeated in her career. In the final game of the series, she came back to earn a save. She retired all three batters she faced as the Crimson Tide had the tying run at the plate in the seventh.
Anna Thompson leads AU with a 10-9 record and a 1.44 earned run average. She has thrown 116.1 innings and struck out 184 with two complete-game shutouts. Currie is 7-9 with a 2.09 ERA for the season, while Brittany Day is 0-1 with a 2.54 ERA mostly in relief. As a team, Auburn has a 1.84 earned run average, with six shutouts and 219 strikeouts.
Last season the purple and gold took two out of three from Auburn, winning the first two games, 4-0 and 6-5, before falling in game three, 1-0. LSU leads the overall series with AU, 29-11, including a 13-4 record in Auburn, having won three-straight after sweeping the 2005 series. For her career, Girouard is 14-9 all-time against AU.
LSU returns home to host five SEC games next week. The Tigers will host Kentucky in a mid-week doubleheader on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Both games will be televised on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37. LSU will then take on South Carolina in a three-game series. The Tigers will face the Gamecocks in a doubleheader on Friday starting at 4 p.m. before concluding the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.
SERIES FACTS
LSU Tigers (32-5, 7-2 SEC) vs. Auburn Tigers (17-19, 6-7 SEC)
DATE/TIME
Saturday, March 31 ? 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, April 1 ? 1 p.m.
STADIUM
Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Ala.
RADIO
LSU Sports Radio Network (WNXX-FM, The X -104.5/104.9 in Baton Rouge)
INTERNET
Live audio and stats in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net
TV
None
SERIES RECORD
LSU leads 29-11