University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Lady Eagle Softball Hosts Nationally-Ranked LSU
3/9/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
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Game Notes
Lady Eagle Softball Hosts Nationally-Ranked LSU
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss Lady Eagle softball teams puts its five-game win streak on the line, hosting nationally-ranked LSU in a non-conference midweek game, Wednesday, at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
The Lady Eagles (10-12) are in the midst of a streak that included a league series sweep over Saint Louis over the weekend. Southern Miss completed the sweep, Sunday, with a 9-4 win to take the final game of the opening weekend series against the Billikens at the Southern Miss Softball Complex.
The three wins improved the Lady Eagles' win streak to five in a row, including Thursday's doubleheader sweep over Alabama State. The victories also put Southern Miss in an early, first place tie with Houston in the conference standings, with the Cougars also holding a 3-0 league mark.
Nationally-ranked LSU, which is slotted at No. 3 in the USA Today/NFCA Poll and No. 5 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll, split its last two-game series against No. 13 Tennessee over the weekend. The Lady Tigers (22-4) have won 18 of their last 19 games, including a 17-game win streak at one point.
Senior outfielder Heather Bell continues to lead Southern Miss at the plate with a .372 batting average and a team-best 15 runs scored. Ashley Davis and Ashley Brenan both lead the team with 22 hits and are second and third in hitting, sporting .328 and .319 averages, respectively. Brenan is tops on the team in doubles (9), triples (2) and total bases (35), while Davis leads all players with 14 RBIs. Sarah Boyd (4) and Diane Hammes (3) are 1-2 in home runs, respectively.
In the circle, seniors Danielle Hatfield and Jessica Holaway sport identical 4-3 records, with Hatfield holding on to a team-best 3.58 ERA and 30 strikeouts. Holaway has a 3.99 ERA and is tops with 36 strikeouts this season.
For LSU, Stephanie Hill has a team-best .427 batting average with 32 hits, six home runs and 23 RBIs, while Leslie Klein is second with a .371 average, to go along with team-highs in hits (33), triples (3), home runs (7) and RBIs (27). Kristin Schmidt is 12-2 with a 1.86 ERA and 105 strikeouts, while Emily Turner sports a 9-2 record, with a 1.67 ERA and 47 strikeouts.
LSU leads the all-time series 12-4, including a pair of wins earlier this season in the Purple and Gold Challenge.
Following the midweek single game, Southern Miss takes a six-day break before hosting Ole Miss on Tuesday, March 16 and Louisiana Tech on Thursday, March 18. Both doubleheaders are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
