The LSU softball team is in the middle of a scheduling nightmare.
If facing off against the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs and the No. 15 South Carolina Gamecocks in the past two weeks was not enough, the Tigers must now look ahead to a road trip against No. 6 Alabama this weekend.
But before the Tigers can shift their focus to the Crimson Tide, they must first worry about the Alabama A&M Bulldogs, the 2003 Southeastern Athletic Conference East champion, which LSU plays tonight at Tiger Park.
The Tigers (27-7, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) and the Bulldogs (8-22) will have the first pitch at 6 p.m.
Tigers third baseman Julie Wiese said tonight’s game will be a perfect opportunity to get back on the winning track after dropping two-straight games to Georgia over the weekend.
“We just have to take it as another game to get better and to work on the things that we need to work on,” Wiese said. “We need to take it as a chance to get better and play good Tiger ball as always.”
Freshman pitcher Emily Turner will get the start for the Tigers, coach Yvette Girouard said. Turner (10-3, 1.83 ERA) lost her last outing against Georgia, giving up five runs in a complete-game performance.
On the season, Turner has appeared in 16 games, allowed 23 runs while striking out 66 batters.
The Tigers come into tonight’s game with a .330 team batting average, which is second in the SEC, and an SEC-leading .534 slugging percentage.
Sophomore first baseman Stephanie Hill continues to lead the Tigers in most offensive categories, including batting average (.366) and home runs (8).
Alabama A&M enters Tiger Park lacking the hitting power that LSU has grown accustomed to in SEC play. The Bulldogs are batting .191 for the season, while only scoring 60 runs in 30 games.
Whereas LSU leads the SEC in home runs (39), the Bulldogs have yet to hit a home run this season and have only hit four extra base hits and four doubles as a team.
Sophomore Tasha Sloan leads the Bulldogs in both hitting and pitching. Sloan has a team-high .284 batting average with five RBIs and 23 base hits. Inside the circle, Sloan (7-8, 2.87 ERA) has appeared in 15 games, striking out 90 batters and allowing 55 runs in 95 innings pitched.
“[Sloan] is the girl that you can’t let beat you with either her arm or her stick,” Girouard said.
But beyond Sloan, the Bulldogs’ pitching staff is thin with Taryn Hartley (0-8) maintaining a 5.68 ERA and Brittany Graeber (1-6) earning an 8.26 ERA. As a staff, the Bulldogs are allowing opposing teams to bat .316 against them and have allowed 169 runs.
LSU will be the second SEC team that Alabama A&M faces this season. The Bulldogs played Mississippi State twice this season, losing both games by a score of 13-0. Conversely, LSU swept its three-game series with Mississippi State earlier this season by a combined score of 17-6.