No. 7 LSU Set to Host 2025 Purple & Gold Challenge

The Mavericks opened the season with a 4-1 record at the Incarnate Word Tournament in San Antonio, Texas, and will have a Thursday night game at McNeese at 6 p.m. CT before heading to Baton Rouge.  Entering Thursday’s game, UTA has a .288 batting average on 36 hits, 27 runs and 25 RBI. Outfielder Nicole Hill (.429) and utility player Kaitlyn Sailor (.375) have a team-high six hits.

UTA has a 3.16 ERA in the circle with 17 strikeouts in 31.0 innings pitched. Emilie Hoelscher (1-0) paces the staff with a 0.00 ERA and has thrown the team’s only shutout of the young season. Hoelscher has four strikeouts and has given up one run in 10.0 innings.

LSU has won two of the last three meetings against UT Arlington. The last time the teams played each other was in the 2018 Tiger Classic, where LSU defeated UTA 9-2. Prior to 2018, LSU and UTA played from 1979-1982 at a neutral site or in Arlington, Texas.

Northwestern concluded its opening weekend with a 3-2 performance at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Clearwater, Fla. The Wildcats’ highlight of the weekend was a 4-1 victory over then No. 8 Duke. NU has a .246 batting average on 30 hits but only mustard 12 runs and eight RBI on the weekend. Infielder Kaylie Avvisato led the Wildcats with a .563 batting average, accounting for nine hits, including two doubles and a triple.

NU has a 4.38 ERA, striking out 15 batters and allowing a .273 opposing batting average. Lauren Boyd (1-0) has a staff-low 2.76 ERA and a team-high eight strikeouts in 12.2 innings, while Riley Grudzielanek (1-2) has struck out six batters and has one save in 14.2 innings over four appearances

LSU leads the all-time series versus Northwestern 3-1 and is on a three-game winning streak. The Wildcats will come to Baton Rouge for the first time since 2014, which was a 4-0 victory for the Tigers. The two clubs played last season in Clearwater, Fla. LSU walked off Northwestern 13-13 in a back-and-forth affair where the Tigers had to rally from 5-0 and 12-8 deficits.

Virginia Tech was a perfect 5-0 at the Charleston Invitational in Mount Pleasant, S.C. All five of the Hokies games were run-rule shutouts, including a perfect game thrown by Emma Lemley (2-0) against the College of Charleston.

Lemley, who was tabbed the ACC Pitcher of the Week, struck out 22 in 11.0 innings and had a couple of complete-game shutouts. She relinquished one hit on the weekend and held opposing batters to a .029 average.

VT scored 50 runs in its first five games, batting .432 behind 57 hits, and had 49 RBI. The Hokies had 11 doubles and six home runs during their opening weekend. Four different players have a batting average of over .570. Infielder Michelle Chatfield (.588) led the team with 10 hits and had four RBI, and utility player Bre Peck (.353) had six hits but totaled a team-high 12 RBI and had two home runs.