The LSU softball team demonstrated Wednesday night at Tiger Park that strength of schedule is more important than a record.Louisiana-Monroe entered Baton Rouge undefeated against a three-loss LSU team. But after facing then-No. 19 North Carolina, then-No. 21 DePaul and Texas last weekend, No. 19 LSU (3-3) proved to be too much for the Warhawks (3-1) as LSU won, 6-1.Sophomore left fielder Ashley Langoni launched a two-run home run to left center field to put the Tigers on the board at 2-0 in the    second inning.”I’m more comfortable at the plate, and when you are more confident, you play better,” Langoni said.Senior center fielder Rachel Mitchell increased the lead to 4-0 in the third inning with a single to center field, scoring senior designated player Kirsten Shortridge and junior third baseman Jessica Mouse.LSU coach Yvette Girouard said Shortridge didn’t play center field because her shoulder was bothering her the morning of the game.”She was good enough to hit,” Girouard said. “Throwing might have been a little bit of a problem.”Girouard said she doesn’t think the shoulder problem will be a lingering injury for Shortridge.”I think she just slept wrong,” Girouard said.The Tigers thought they struck out Warhawks freshman first baseman Elise West to end the fourth inning, but the pitch was called a ball. Momentum seemed to be turning ULM’s way when she brought in a run with an infield single later in the at-bat.The momentum was short lived. LSU quashed any thoughts of a comeback in the bottom half of the inning when Shortridge smacked an RBI base hit to center field, and junior right fielder Ashley Applegate followed with an RBI double to extend the Tiger lead, 6-1.LSU freshman pitcher Rachele Fico (2-2) tossed five innings, giving up one unearned run and striking out a career-high seven batters to earn the win.”I saw her changeup working,” Girouard said. “I saw her rise ball finally jumping. She’s not nervous. I thought she had a great outing.”It was Fico’s first opportunity to pitch at home as a Tiger.”Tiger Park has an incredible atmosphere, and it was just an amazing feeling to be able to play in our stadium for the first time,” Fico said.The Tigers made it to the championship game last weekend at the Texas Invitational where they fell to Texas, 2-1. The Longhorns beat LSU by the same score earlier in the tournament.LSU made it to the championship game after overcoming a 3-2 deficit against then-No. 19 North Carolina to win the game, 6-3. The Tar Heels had previously taken the tournament opener against LSU, 1-0.The Tigers notched a victory against then-No. 21 DePaul, 4-1, following the opener.Shortridge hit .368 and Mitchell hit .313 during the weekend, but the team as a whole hit only .230.”I saw a lot of positives, but I’m not happy that we left so many people on and that we couldn’t score runs,” Girouard said.The pitching was stellar throughout the tournament. All three of the Tigers’ losses were low-scoring games decided by one run.Sophomore pitcher Brittany Mack posted an 0.88 ERA at the tournament, and Shortridge and Fico had ERAs under 2.00.—Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]