BATON ROUGE — Despite going 4-1 last week, including a series sweep of Kentucky and a series win over South Carolina, the LSU softball team dropped one place in the ESPN/USA Softball poll to No. 6, as the Tigers prepare to host in-state rival Southeastern Louisiana on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park.
It marks the “Gold Game” for LSU as fans wearing gold to the game will receive FREE admission to the park courtesy of The Advocate. In addition, fans will have a chance to catch gold LSU softball t-shirts throughout the contest.
The game will be televised live on Cox Sports Television in Baton Rouge on cable channel 37. It will also be broadcast in Baton Rouge on The X ? 104.5/104.9 FM and also in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net.
“We certainly hope we get the opportunity to play,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard during a downpour that pelted the capital city on Tuesday. “This gives us one more opportunity to start some different people and work on some skills that we need to sharpen up for the weekend series at Mississippi State. This is also one more opportunity for our fans to watch us play.”
After beginning the season at No. 7 in the preseason ESPN poll, LSU (39-6) jumped as high as fifth on two occasions, before falling one spot to No. 5 this week. Since ESPN and USA Softball began their softball poll on Feb. 25, 2003, the Tigers have been ranked in 64 of the 73 polls (.877). LSU has also been ranked in the top 10 for 33 weeks in the poll’s history.
Last weekend, LSU took two out of three from South Carolina at Tiger Park. The Tigers lost the first game, 2-1, but came back to win game two, 8-0, in five innings, behind a one-hit performance from Dani Hofer. In the series finale, LSU shut out the Gamecocks, 2-0, on a two-hitter by Hofer.
Senior Leslie Klein currently leads LSU at the plate with a .419 batting average. The USA Softball National Player of the Year Finalist leads the Southeastern Conference with 17 doubles, three shy of the Tiger softball single-season record, with a team-best three triples, five home runs, 42 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. The LSU career record holder for doubles, she tied the school record for career RBIs on Saturday and is just three home runs shy of breaking that career record.
Juniors Killian Roessner is just under .400 for the year, hitting at a .398 clip. For the year, she ranks second in the SEC with 12 doubles, while also pounding five home runs with 28 RBIs. The Tigers, however, will be without junior designated player Dee Dee Henderson, who is hitting .410 on the year, who cracked a bone in her finger against South Carolina and should be out for a week.
Last week, third baseman Tayl’r Hollis finished the week hitting .500 in five games after going 4-for-5 with three doubles, two runs scored and two RBIs in the doubleheader against Kentucky. Klein also posted a .500 average for the week with a pair of doubles and four stolen bases.
Five current Tiger starters are hitting over .300 on the season. As a team, LSU ranks third in the league with a .324 batting average and leads the SEC with 76 doubles. The Tigers have also hit seven triples, 36 home runs and scored 266 runs in 45 games.
In the circle, the Tigers have a 1.16 earned run average, second best in the conference, and are allowing opponents to hit just .158 against them, also the second best in the league. In addition, LSU pitchers have struck out 390 batters, which averages out to over nine strikeouts per seven innings.
Among the regular SEC starters, Turner leads the way with a 1.25 earned run average and is 13-5 on the season with 130 strikeouts. Hofer leads the team with a 17-1 record, while posting a 1.37 ERA and 184 strikeouts. Both freshman Cody Trahan and junior Tiffany Garcia are undefeated on the year, combining for a 9-0 record. Trahan has yet to allow an earned run in give appearances, while Garcia has a 1.04 earned run average in eight appearances.
Southeastern is hitting .269 as a team this season. The Lady Lions are led by Heather Sherrill with a .357 average, including 13 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 19 RBIs. Arica Rodriguez leads Southeastern with 33 RBIs and seven home runs, while Carolann Wenisch has recorded 23 RBIs. For the year, the Lady Lions have recorded 91 extra-base hits, including 28 home runs, but have only stolen 11 bases in 13 attempts while surrendering 41 stolen bases in 55 attempts.
Rachel Ray leads Southeastern Louisiana’s seven pitchers with a 13-8 record, including four complete-game shutouts, with a 2.44 earned run average in 27 appearances in the circle. Jenna Yoder is 5-7 on the year with a 6.17 ERA in 17 appearances, while Nicole Schoenberger is 1-2 with a 5.38 ERA in 12 appearances. As a team, Southeastern has a 4.45 ERA with four shutouts and 183 strikeouts.
LSU is 8-0 all-time against Southeastern Louisiana. In the eight meetings, the Tigers have recorded a 7-0 record in Baton Rouge and a 1-0 record in Hammond, with four shutout victories and a pair of one-run wins. The Tigers swept the series last year, taking one game in Baton Rouge, 6-0, and one in Hammond, 6-3. Girouard is 49-1 all-time against the Lady Lions, including a 7-0 mark while at LSU.
The Tigers will next travel to Starkville, Miss., for an SEC doubleheader against Mississippi State on Saturday at 1 p.m. The series, originally scheduled for the mid-week, was pushed back to the weekend and will serve as LSU’s final doubleheader series.
ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 Poll
Week of April 10
Rank
Team
Record
Points
PVS
1.
Tennessee (20)
42-2
500
1
2.
Oklahoma
41-4
479
2
3.
Alabama
40-4
452
3
4.
Arizona
28-8
422
6
5.
Texas A&M
31-6
415
4
6.
LSU
39-6
407
5
7.
Northwestern
31-7
390
7
8.
Michigan
28-6
356
8
9.
Baylor
36-9
332
11
10.
Arizona State
36-10
325
9
11.
Oregon
37-5
290
12
12.
Stanford
27-9
259
10
13.
Texas
28-10
254
13
14.
DePaul
24-7
232
16
15.
UCLA
26-10
222
15
16.
Washington
23-10
191
17
17.
Oregon State
29-12
171
18
18.
Hawai’i
40-8
162
21
19.
Illinois State
30-9
125
T19
20.
UL-Lafayette
34-11
120
14
21.
North Carolina
38-10
118
T19
22.
Southern Illinois
29-7
84
22
23.
Virginia Tech
32-12
56
23
24.
Georgia Tech
36-13
30
24
25.
Fresno State
32-13
19
25
Parenthesis Denotes first place votes.
Others receiving votes: Cal Poly (18), Penn State (16), Houston (15), NC State (11), Creighton (9), California (6), Florida (6), Cal State Fullerton (4), Kansas (3) and Missouri (1).