After winning a Southeastern Conference pitching battle last weekend against formerly No. 1 Florida, the No. 1 LSU softball team will wage war at the plate against No. 6 Oklahoma in a duel between two of the best power-hitting lineups in the nation, starting with Game 1 at 6 p.m. tonight at Tiger Park.
Oklahoma’s (24-3) order features senior infielders Shelby Pendley and Lauren Chamberlain, who have a combined 25 home runs this season. The Tigers’ (28-1, 5-1 SEC) dynamic duo of sophomore catcher/infielder Sahvanna Jaquish and junior shortstop Bianka Bell have totaled 20 homers this season.
“Oklahoma might quite possibly be the best team on the schedule, who knows,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “We’ve got some great teams on the schedule. They have great numbers, unbelievable offensive numbers coming in here. We’re lucky we have a really solid pitching staff.”
Although Bell and Jaquish have lit up the scoreboard with home runs this season, the success of LSU’s lineup stems from its balance of power and speed.
The productivity starts at the top of the lineup with senior center fielder A.J. Andrews and sophomore right fielder Bailey Landry, who have tallied 79 hits and 38 walks this season.
Andrews leads the Tigers and the SEC with a .611 on-base percentage. She is second in the conference with 27 walks while hitting the fifth-best batting average in the SEC.
Landry brings an arsenal to the plate, from bunting to slapping to hitting for power. She has recorded a hit for 21 straight games — a program record.
Bell has dominated in the three spot this season, hitting an SEC-best .565 and slugging 1.011. In the Tigers’ three-game series against Florida, Bell went 10-14 on the weekend and earned SEC Player of the Week, Louisville Slugger/NFCA Co-Player of the Week and USA Softball Player of the Week honors.
Jaquish leads the Tigers with 11 homers and has come through with clutch hits in key moments throughout the season. In Game 3 against Arkansas on March 8, Jaquish hit her second grand slam of the season, breaking open the game and ensuring the Tigers’ 7-1 victory.
“Our offenses are pretty similar,” said junior catcher Kellsi Kloss. “What is cool is we have so many other weapons, too, besides power. We have speed at the top of our lineup and some other really cool weapons mixed through the bottom, too.”
While the Sooners’ pitching staff hopes to shutdown Bell and Jaquish, the Tigers’ pitching rotation faces the difficult task of stopping Chamberlain and Pendley.
Chamberlain has hit 86 home runs in her career at Oklahoma. She comes into the series just four home runs away from breaking the NCAA career home run record.
In the Sooners’ four games last week against Iowa and East Carolina, Pendley hit 10-13 at the plate with seven home runs and two doubles. She slugged 2.538 on the weekend and reached base safely 14-17 at-bats with four walks.
The Tigers’ pitching staff has allowed only nine home runs this season. Torina’s ability to switch between four pitchers with completely different styles will create different looks to throw off the rhythm of the Sooners’ lineup.
“[The Tigers’ pitchers] have to make quality pitches,” Torina said. “They have to try and win every pitch and make sure we are in a head count as often as we can be — try and force them to hit pitches that we want them to hit.”
You can reach Morgan Prewitt on Twitter @kmprewitt_TDR.