LSU senior pitcher Emily Turner began Wednesday’s game against McNeese State University by throwing four straight balls to lead-off hitter Brooke Brodhead. LSU coach Yvette Girouard made an early trip to the circle to speak with the All-American, and whatever was said obviously worked in LSU’s favor. Turner pitched a complete game two-hitter, walked three and struckout 10 batters in the No. 9 Tigers’ 7-1 victory against the Cowgirls (9-19) at Tiger Park. The win, LSU’s 22nd this season, increased Turner’s record to 8-2 and marked the fourth time in 10 starts that she has struck out double digit batters. The Chula Vista, Calif., native said that when Girouard approached her on the field, the coach’s demeanor was relaxed. “Coach Girouard and I have a different relationship,” Turner said. “She doesn’t come out to chastise me or be angry at me. She’s just telling me to calm down because out there I was a little jumpy. I was a little more hyper than I normally am.” Girouard came out to speak with Turner again after she walked the first batter of the fourth inning, Lady Cowboys’ senior first baseman Jana Jones. Following that visit, Turner retired 10 batters in a row before giving up a one-out walk to left fielder Shayla Cormier in the seventh inning. Girouard said her reason for starting Turner, as opposed to freshman Cody Trahan or junior Tiffany Garcia, in a mid-week game was to get her ace ready for Southeastern Conference play. “The whole reason I pitched her tonight is that she’s not in a groove yet,” Girouard said. “Probably about from the fourth inning on, she started to click. We need her sharp as a tack starting [conference play] this weekend.” The top of the Tigers’ lineup provided Turner with enough breathing room on the scoreboard to make adjustments throughout the game. Freshman left fielder Jazz Jackson and junior designated player Dee Dee Henderson went a combined 6-for-7 at the plate and scored three runs. Junior second baseman Vanessa Soto had two hits in the contest, including a two-run homer to center field in the fifth inning that gave LSU a 5-1 lead. “I knew I was going to get a good pitch to hit,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to hit a home run. I was just trying to get a base hit to keep the inning going, but it ended up going out, so I’ll take it.” Senior first baseman Kristen Hobbs also hit a home run in the game. After hitting only two homers in her first three seasons as a Tiger, Hobbs has hit five this season and leads the team in that category. The Tigers now turn their attention to SEC play, which begins Saturday with a three-game series at the University of Mississippi. LSU plays at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday, while the series finale is set for 1 p.m. Sunday. Even with only three losses this season, Girouard said the team’s play is not where it needs to be going into the SEC schedule. “I’d like to feel a little bit better [about conference play],” she said. “This is kind of a tired team. That was a draining trip from [the University of] Washington, and we’re in midterm, so they’re having that to deal with too.” The SEC has five teams ranked in the ESPN/USA Softball top-25, led by the University of Tennessee at No. 1 and the University of Alabama at No. 3. The universities of Georgia and Florida hold spots near the end of the poll, ranked No. 23 and No. 24 respectively. Following this weekend’s series against the Rebels, the Tigers’ SEC schedule gets increasingly difficult in weekend series against the Gators on March 17-18 and the Crimson Tide on March 24-25. Both series will be played at Tiger Park, and Turner said playing tough conference competition at home should provide extra motivation for LSU. “It’s always nice to have the home crowd behind you, but we’re prepared as a team to go anywhere and beat the big name schools,” Turner said. “But of course we like to be here, sleep in our own beds [and] not leave hotels three hours early [for games].”
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