University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Softball To Host No. 25 LSU
3/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 15, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- After a nine-day layoff, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles are back in action on Wednesday, Mar. 16, against No. 25 LSU Tigers. The Golden Eagles have lost their last eight games
About Southern Miss
The Golden Eagles are 8-13 after a 0-6 showing in the Cal State Fullerton DeMarini Invitational. Brittany Lilly and Michelle Takeda tallied six hits apiece while boasting a .400 and .353 batting average respectively.
Southern Miss is batting .245 as a team. Offensively, Lilly leads the team in hitting with a .324 to go with a double and one home run. Another freshman Taylor Brown follows with a .316 average and a team-leading six doubles. Senior 2B Jill Mathis owns a team-leading 16 RBI and six home runs.
Sophomore Beth Dietrich (3-6) leads the team in the circle with a 3.57 ERA in 62.2 innings of work. Freshman Kelly Smith (2-2) has pitched 23.1 innings and owns a 3.60 ERA.
Golden Eagle Quick Hits
• Michelle Takeda hits her first home run against Cal State Fullerton (3/5)
• Chanell Thurman was 3-for-3 against Cal State Northridge (3/6)
• Leslie LeJune collected three hits against Ole Miss (3/2)
• Freshman Brittany Lilly blasted her first career grand slam against Nicholls (2/26)
• Jill Mathis added another home run against Evansville (2/26) to run her total to six
• Mathis is tied for the lead in the C-USA in home runs
• Taylor Brown and Leslie LeJune are in a tie for the lead in the league with six doubles
• Senior second baseman Jill Mathis was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week (2/21).
• Freshman Brittany Lilly recorded her first career triple
A Look at LSU
No. 25 LSU
Series Record: LSU leads 19-4
Last Meeting: Apr. 1, 2009 - LSU won 4-2 in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Scouting the Tigers: LSU is ranked No. 25 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Coaches' Poll and brings a 15-10 record into the game. The Tigers played at No. 1 Georgia last weekend, losing all three games. LSU has lost its last five games.
Simone Heyward leads LSU with a .364 batting average, with a double and three triples. Tiffany Shaw is next with an average of .303. Lauren Houston has played in 17 games and owns a .353 batting average with two home runs and 10 RBI. Anissa Young leads the team with 21 RBI.
The Tigers have used a three-pitcher rotation with Meghan Patterson (5-0), Brittany Mack (5-3) and Rachele Fico (5-7). Patterson carries a 2.35 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 44.2 innings of work and holding opponents to a .204 batting average, while Mack and Fico have a 3.04 and 3.36 ERA, respectively. Mack has pitched 50.2 innings while Fico has worked 64.2 innings.
As a team, LSU is batting .266 while whole its opponents to .224. The Tigers are outscoring their opponents, 115 to 83.
The Series
This is the 24th meeting between the two schools in a series dating back to the 1999 season. LSU leads the overall series 19-4 against Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles won the initial meeting between the two schools, but LSU has won the last 15 meetings.
On Deck
Following the LSU game, the Golden Eagles return home hit the road to open conference play at UAB, Mar. 19-20.
