After taking its opening Southeastern Conference series against Tennessee, the Tigers (18-6, 2-1 SEC) will tune up against Nicholls State in a midweek matchup at Tiger Park on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.
LSU head coach Yvette Girouard said the midweek game is a good opportunity to improve hitting and other aspects of the team when the games are actually played. LSU’s last two midweek games against McNeese State and Southeastern have been postponed because of rain.
“It’s one more opportunity to swing the bat and get people into the ballgame,” Girouard said.
Kristen Schmidt (10-5, 0.74 ERA), who was named SEC Pitcher of the Week, will start for No. 8 LSU. Schmidt went 2-1 with a 0.88 ERA last weekend against Tennessee, allowing six hits in 16 innings of work. She had thrown 33 consecutive scoreless innings before giving up a run in the seventh inning of the second game.
“I felt like I’ve been throwing well the last few weeks,” Schmidt said. “I felt a little shaky at first on Sunday, but after a couple of innings I felt good.”
Girouard said Tessa Lynam also will get time in the circle for LSU.
Schmidt looks forward to playing the Colonels and said it will be a good tuneup for this weekend’s road series against South Carolina.
“It’s a nice break from practicing, and it can get us ready for conference,” Schmidt said. “It will be nice to get to play one, hopefully, since they’ve been rained out so far.”
Nicholls (9-11) has lost six straight games, but Girouard said it is a much improved team that had a stellar program at one time.
“They’ve got a new [junior college] pitcher, and she’s racking up a ton of K’s, so we’ve got to take care of business,” Girouard said.
Dione Meier is the top pitcher, tossing 81 strikeouts to earn a 4-3 record with a 1.97 ERA.
Lindsey Yelverton (.328 batting average, .531 slugging percentage) and Lindsay Coleman (.315, 14 RBIs) lead Nicholls in hitting.
Tessa Lynam leads LSU at the plate, batting .423 with 13 RBIs and a .577 slugging percentage. Leigh Ann Danos (.346, one homerun, five RBIs) and LaDonia Hughes (.321, six RBIs) also pace the Tigers’ offensive attack.
“We tell our team all the time that if we don’t come to play, we can be average like everybody else in the country,” Girouard said. “But when we bring our game to the park, we’re pretty special.”