LSU freshman pitcher Rachele Fico showed maturity beyond her years when she entered the circle to pitch in the third inning of Tuesday night’s 7-0 victory against Nicholls State.The Oxford, Conn., native (11-2) came into the game in relief of sophomore pitcher Brittany Mack with bases loaded and only one out.But Fico never faltered and struck out consecutive batters to end the Colonels’ threat.”I had to dig deep in that situation,” Fico said. “I was just keeping the ball low and hoping for ground balls.”No. 13 LSU (27-4, 8-0) increased its nation-leading and program-best winning streak to 22.The loss snapped Nicholls’s (14-9, 8-4) three-game winning streak.Two LSU veterans led the Tigers offensively — as junior third baseman Jessica Mouse and senior center fielder Kirsten Shortridge combined for four hits and five RBIs.”We need that all day, every day,” Shortridge said. “It’s important that the people in front of us are setting the table.”Mouse put the Tigers on the board first with a two-out RBI double to center field in the bottom of the second inning.The Tigers’ team captain added another RBI in the bottom of the fourth inning with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.Mouse struggled last season, and her 17 RBIs this season have already surpassed her total for the 2009 season.”She works so hard and was so frustrated at one point,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard.Shortridge added a two-run double later in the inning to increase LSU’s lead to 4-0.The Tigers loaded the bases in bottom of the fifth inning and added two runs, including another RBI single by Shortridge.Senior left fielder Rachel Mitchell led off the bottom of the sixth inning with her second double of the game, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the final run of the game on another wild pitch.Fico earned the win after pitching 3 2/3 innings, striking out six batters and giving up no hits and no runs.Fico lowered her ERA to 0.73 after the shutout and trails only LSU senior pitcher Cody Trahan’s 0.25 ERA as the lowest in the Southeastern Conference.Fico said the huge run support from the Tiger offense always takes the pressure off the pitchers in the circle.”Our hitters have been setting the pace every single game,” Fico said. “It’s so relaxing to know you have such a big cushion of runs.”Trahan started the game and added four strikeouts in her three innings of work to bring the Tiger pitching staff’s total to 10 strikeouts in the game.LSU will travel to Hammond on Wednesday to face Southeastern Louisiana in North Oak Park at 6 p.m.LSU defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 11-0, in the two teams’ first match up this season on Feb. 24 in Baton Rouge.The Tigers held the Lions to only three hits and four base runners during the early-season meeting.”In-state losses have cost us in the long run,” Girouard said. “We need to go out there, take care of business and do it early and often.”- – – – Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]