Friends, family, fans and former players were on hand Wednesday night to witness softball coach Yvette Girouard earn her 1,000th career victory.
“This hasn’t really been a focus for us,” Girouard said. “My mom is here and my niece is here. Several of my original ballplayers are here. One player in particular is here that I coached in high school and college that convinced me to take the college job. It makes this very special.”
With the win, Girouard becomes just the fifth coach in NCAA Division I history to reach the 1,000-win milestone.
Girouard said she credits her 1,000 wins to a particular aspect of the game.
“It takes a passion to coach,” Girouard said. “It’s a passion for the game and a passion for the players. But anybody that’s successful has a work ethic, and that’s something I learned within my family — that nothing is given to you.”
Earning her first 759 victories at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette from 1981-2000, Girouard has since put together 241 wins since arriving at LSU in 2001.
On the field, LSU won the second game of a double-header 8-3 against Arkansas in Tiger Park.
Arkansas got on the board first in the second game, scoring in the top of the first inning after a single by Shana Easley scored Mindy O’Malley from second base to give the Lady Backs a 1-0 lead.
LSU (19-14, 3-11 Southeastern Conference) rebounded in the bottom of the inning after a throwing error by first-baseman Ashley Carter scored juniors Lauren Castle and Stephanie Hill to give LSU the 2-1 lead. Three batters later, Leslie Klein scored on a throwing error by second baseman Kallie Foglesong to put LSU up 3-1.
After consecutive walks by starting pitcher Megan Jolly in the second inning, freshman Tiffany Garcia stepped in and retired three straight batters to prevent Arkansas (14-29, 1-15 SEC) from getting any closer.
LSU’s offensive surge continued in the bottom of the inning thanks to a single by Hill, scoring both Camille Harris and Dee Dee Henderson and putting the score at 5-1. Hill scored later in the inning after a bases-loaded walk by pitcher Kelly Ninemier as LSU headed into the third inning with a 6-1 lead.
LSU added one more run in the third inning following an RBI-groundout by Hill, then put the nail in the coffin the next inning after an RBI double by freshman Andrea Smith scored Vanessa Soto from second base.
Arkansas put up one more run in the fifth-inning following a bases-loaded walk by Garcia which scored Dayna Huckabee. It then pulled within five after a bases-loaded single by Rachel LeMaster in the top of the seventh inning.
Garcia pitched 6.0 innings to get the win, striking out five while allowing just two runs.
“She did a great job,” Girouard said. “Jolly was out there, trying to gut it out. But you have to give kudos to Garcia for the job she did.”
Garcia said she was able to do her job thanks to a strong offensive output.
“I was confident in knowing our hitters could take care of it,” Garcia said. “So I just did my best to help the defense and get ahead in the counts.”
In the first game of the two-game set, LSU jumped out to an early lead after Harris belted her sixth home run of the season to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
LSU would not score again until the fourth inning. After a single to center field by Hill, Soto knocked in pinch-runner Henderson on a run-scoring triple, giving LSU the 2-0 lead.
Arkansas bounced back the next inning, scoring three runs to give the Lady Backs a 3-2 lead.
The fifth-inning run began when Huckabee got on base to begin the inning after being hit by a pitch. After a single by Samantha Buckner, two batters later, Zenobia Davison then singled to load the bases. LeMaster then knocked a sharp ground ball to Emily Turner, but a throwing error by the starting pitcher scored Huckabee from third.
A single by Mindy O’Malley scored two more runs as Arkansas ended the inning on the following batter thanks to a sacrifice fly by Foglesong gave the Lady Backs a 4-2 lead. The inning ended on the same play when catcher Kristin Hobbs picked off O’Malley at first base.
LSU battled back in the bottom of the inning when Hobbs scored on a sacrifice bunt by Castle, putting the score at 4-3.
Arkansas got one more insurance run in the top of the seventh after Davison stole both second and third base, then scored on a single to right field by LeMaster.
After getting one runner on in the bottom of the inning, Hill failed to capitalize on a 6-4 putout at second base, giving Arkansas the 5-3 win.
Turner took the loss, pitching 4.1 innings and giving up four runs with three strikeouts. Freshman Katy Henry of Arkansas got her sixth win of the season after going 6.0 innings, giving up just three runs on five hits with one strikeout.