The No. 1 LSU softball team will put its perfect home record on the line again when it hosts South Alabama at 6 p.m. tonight at Tiger Park.
The Tigers (30-1, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) are a perfect 23-0 at home this spring following a two-game sweep of No. 6 Oklahoma over the weekend, but the team is refusing to rest on its laurels. Junior shortstop Bianka Bell said the team will have to practice hard this week in preparation for the Jaguars (21-6, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) and a looming weekend series against Kentucky.
South Alabama has been in good form in the lead-up to tonight’s game. The Jaguars have won their last five games, including a three-game sweep of Appalachian State over the weekend.
During the undefeated f-ive game run, the Jaguars outscored opponents, 28-4, with two wins coming in games stopped early courtesy of the mercy rule. South Alabama managed to take one game in its series with No. 7 University of Louisiana-Lafayette and fell narrowly in a 2-1 loss to No. 5 Alabama in its opening game of the season.
South Alabama’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. The Jaguars were ranked in the top 25 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s week five poll. They tumbled out in the latest edition but received more votes than any other unranked team.
LSU is in the midst of a five- game win streak of its own. Since falling in the opening game of their series against Florida on March 13, the Tigers have rebounded by winning two games against the Gators, one game against Nicholls State and two against the Sooners.
LSU’s pitching staff was dominant once again over the weekend. Coming into the series, the Sooners had the highest batting average in the country at .403, but freshman pitchers Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper held the Sooners to just seven hits in 46 at-bats for a .152 batting average.
A lone home run from Bell gave LSU the win on Friday, but LSU’s lineup came alive Saturday. The Tigers blasted four home runs en route to a 10-2 victory.
Junior catcher Kellsi Kloss and sophomore infielder Sahvanna Jaquish each blasted a home run, and Bell added two more to give the Tigers their fifth consecutive win.
Bell leads the Tigers in batting average (.561), hits (55), RBI (50), slugging percentage (1.071), on-base percentage (.604), total bases (105) and is tied with Jaquish in home runs (12).
Senior center fielder A.J. Andrews and sophomore right fielder Bailey Landry are both hitting over .400 for the season, too. In addition to Bell, Andrews, Landry and freshman left fielder Emily Griggs all have on-base percentages greater than .500.
The Tigers’ rotation is a combined 30-1 and has an ERA of 1.33. Walljasper leads the staff in wins (9), Hoover leads in strikeouts (72), sophomore pitcher Baylee Corbello leads in ERA (1.18) and opposing batting average (.168) and sophomore pitcher Kelsee Selman has given up the fewest walks (8).
Despite the lofty stats and record, LSU coach Beth Torina said her team would continue to work on improving following Saturday’s win.
“My team would tell you they still have so much to work on,” Torina said. “They still have a lot of room to grow, so that’s exciting, too, to see that they just continue to push themselves, but it was another great test that we passed.”
You can reach Jack Woods on Twitter @Jack_TDR.