BATON ROUGE — After taking 2-of-3 from No. 1-ranked Tennessee last weekend, the fifth-ranked LSU softball team earned its second article on ESPN’s college front page in a week with an article by Graham Hayes and video highlights from ESPN2.
The article discusses the Tigers’ series win over the Lady Volunteers, the possibility of the Southeastern Conference coming in at 1-2-3 in the polls this week for the first time in conference history and the league’s rise to power in the softball world this year.
“It was a banner weekend for the SEC, and the conference deserves to bask in the glow of attention as the new rankings come out and fans across the country start talking about the upcoming showdown between Tennessee and Alabama, as well as LSU’s trip to Georgia,” said Hayes.
Hayes also discusses LSU’s unique position of having a pair of aces in the circle. Senior Emily Turner and sophomore Dani Hofer have combined for the second best earned run average in the NCAA this season and both rank in the top 10 in the SEC in wins. Hofer leads the Tigers with a 21-2 record and a 1.18 ERA, posting two wins and two saves against nationally ranked teams. Turner is just behind with a 17-5 mark and a 1.24 ERA, including five wins over nationally ranked teams.
“With the possible exception of Texas A&M’s tandem of Amanda Scarborough and Megan Gibson, no team in the top 10 has as strong a mix of balance and excellence in the circle as LSU,” says Hayes. “Both Emily Turner and Dani Hofer have the talent to fill the relatively exclusive role pitchers like Monica Abbott, Taryne Mowatt and Katie Burkhart will undertake in the postseason, but having the two of them together puts the Tigers in a unique position.”
In addition to the article, highlights of the Tigers’ first and third games against Tennessee are available with links on the right side of the page. Beth Mowins and Olympian Jessica Mendoza were in Baton Rouge with ESPN2 to broadcast two of the three series games.
The story and highlights can be found if you access ESPN’s website, under ESPNU, click on the College Sports link. You can also access it directly at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2853846.
LSU will close out the regular season with a trip to Athens, Ga., this weekend. The Tigers will face Georgia in a three game series, beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT and concluding with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT. LSU will then participate in the SEC Tournament the following weekend in Auburn, Ala. The three-day single elimination tournament will give one of the eight participating teams an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament before the field is announced on Sunday, May 13.
The Tigers are now tied with the Lady Vols and the Crimson Tide in the SEC standings with identical 21-4 marks and three games remaining. LSU controls its own destiny when it heads to Georgia, as the Tigers own the tie breakers over both Tennessee and Alabama after taking 2-of-3 from both this season. Tennessee and Alabama play next weekend in Knoxville, and LSU needs only to match the series winner’s record to capture at least a share of its sixth conference title in 11 years. If the Tigers were to sweep Georgia and the Alabama-Tennessee series not go as a sweep for either team, LSU would capture the SEC Title outright.