The No. 18 LSU softball team will be shorthanded when it visits Southern Miss today after junior outfielder Rachel Mitchell sprained her ankle Monday during practice.”We’re doing a base running drill, and she trips over the base,” LSU coach Yvette Girouard said Tuesday. “I think she sprained her ankle pretty good. I don’t know if she’ll be available for tomorrow night, and I’m praying that she’ll be healthy for the weekend.” Mitchell is coming off her best week of the season after she produced six hits, 11 RBI, three doubles and a home run in the Tigers’ sweep of No. 5 Alabama and Mississippi State. She earned Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week honors.Monday’s practice followed the Tigers’ first scheduled weekend off of the season. “You can see that the rest did them all good,” Girouard said. “They understand now that the only way to feel better is to get some time off.”The Tigers (21-7, 8-3) took control of the Southeastern Conference Western Division during their time off after Arkansas lost two games to Ole Miss.”We’re in first place in the West right now, so sometimes it’s good not to play because everybody was beating up on each other,” Girouard said. “But that is the SEC right now.”Junior outfielder Kirsten Shortridge has a team best 39 hits and 15 stolen bases and also posts an on-base percentage of .441 and a batting average of .386.The Golden Eagles (18-16, 7-5) are anchored by junior outfielder Megan Hill, who was named the Conference USA Hitter of the Week on March 17, after recording a .538 batting average and producing nine RBI on two doubles and a home run.LSU defeated Southern Miss, 3-1, on Feb. 25, in Baton Rouge and held Hill hitless with three strikeouts. “We were pretty successful the first time we played her and handled her,” Girouard said. “Hopefully, we’ll attack her the same way, and hopefully, the same outcomes will result.”LSU junior pitcher Cody Trahan earned her second victory of the season against the Golden Eagles and allowed only one hit in five innings while striking out eight batters. Trahan and freshman Brittany Mack lead the team in the circle, posting a combined 14-3 record. The game in Hattiesburg will be the Tigers’ sixth consecutive road game after winning four of five on the road last week, including two come-from-behind wins against Mississippi State. “The Mississippi State series came down to some innings with us coming back,” Girouard said. “It shows the last time we played that the team never gives up.”—-Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]