BATON ROUGE, La. – No. 21 LSU (19-7) will have a quick turnaround as they host its first midweek of the 2022 season by welcoming Southeastern Louisiana (14-7) to Tiger Park at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday, March 15. Tuesday’s game will be streamed on SECN+.
The Tigers are fresh off a 2-1 series win over No. 2 Alabama to open SEC play. LSU hit .280 on the weekend led by junior Georgia Clark’s eight RBIs on four hits, including three home runs. Clark finished the weekend with a .500 batting average. Sophomore Danieca Coffey had a team-high .625 average with five hits on the weekend, and sophomore Raeleen Gutierrez followed with three hits and a .300 average.
This season, LSU is hitting .293 with 27 home runs and a league-leading 107 walks. Defensively, the Tigers have the third lowest opposing batting average in the SEC at .192 and the fourth lowest ERA at 1.86.
Coffey paces the team with a .458 batting average, 38 hits this season (No. 2 in SEC), and eight stolen bases. Coffey is currently on an eight-game hitting streak and 24-game reached base streak. Sophomore Ciara Briggs follows with a .405 average, 34 hits (No. 6 in SEC), and seven stolen bags, while leading the club with 26 runs (T-No. 7 in SEC). Clark (.301 avg.) leads the SEC with 34 RBIs and is the team leader with nine home runs (T-No. 5 in SEC).
Junior Ali Kilponen is 9-3 in the circle this season in 71.1 innings pitched (No. 2 in SEC). Kilponen has a 1.47 ERA with three shutouts and ranks No. 6 in the conference with 63 strikeouts. Senior utility player Shelbi Sunseri is 5-1 on the rubber with a 1.59 ERA, and at the plate, she has eight home runs to go along with her .291 batting average. Freshman Raelin Chaffin (3-0) and Junior Shelby Wickersham (2-3) each have a 2.66 ERA in 23.2 innings and 26.1 innings pitched, respectively. In her last two appearances, Chaffin has logged complete games with a season-high 12 strikeouts vs. Central Connecticut State (March 6) and was one batter shy of a perfect game against No. 2 Alabama (March 12).
THE LINEUP
The Tigers are 22-1 all-time against Southeastern Louisiana who enters Tuesday’s game as winners in seven of its last 11 games. The Lady Lions sit atop the Southland Conference standings and are 8-5 this season when playing away from their home field.
The SLU offense has a .322 batting average behind 174 hits and 88 RBIs. They have a total of 10 home runs this season led by sophomore Lexi Johnson’s four dingers. Sophomore Cam Goodman is hitting a team-best .426 at the plate with 20 hits and has 14 stolen bases. Junior Madison Rayner has a .407 batting average and a team-high 24 hits and 19 RBIs.
In the circle, Southeastern has a 2.59 ERA led by senior Heather Zumo (9-1) who has a 1.11 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 57.0 innings pitches. Zumo has given up 44 hits and walked 11 batters this season.
ON DECK
LSU will spend its weekend in the Lone Star State for a three-game series at Texas March 18-19.
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