'Dogs Hit Road To Take On No. 4 LSU
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Fresh off an emotionally draining conference-opening series with 24th-ranked South Carolina this past weekend, the Mississippi State softball team (18-12, 1-2 SEC) will hit the road beginning Tuesday as the Bullogs travel to Baton Rouge, La., for a three-game set with No. 4 LSU (19-6, 4-1).
The Bulldogs, which avoided a home sweep by taking an 11-10 victory in extra frames from the Gamecocks Sunday at the Mississippi State Softball Field, will look to snap a 16-game skid against the Bayou Bengals - a losing streak which dates back to the 1998 season. Conference-leading LSU will enter the contest fresh off a 4-2 upset loss at Tennessee Saturday afternoon in Knoxville, Tenn. The loss marked LSU's first loss to a conference opponent since the 2001 regular season finale.
Despite the 16-game skid, which includes an 0-for-8 mark in Baton Rouge, the Bulldogs have outhit the Tigers in each of the last two meetings but have fallen by 2-1 scores in both outings. State held a third-inning lead in the second round of the 2001 SEC Tournament, but could not fend off a late-inning rally by the Tigers.
LSU, which has rallied behind the pitching of 2001 SEC Player of the Year Britni Sneed in a majority of its contests, will bring a very balanced attack into the contest. Although turning in the team's second-best ERA, Sneed (9-4, 1.38 ERA) continues to pace the club from the circle, striking out 141 batters and allowing just 17 earned runs in 86.0 innings of work and will roll into the series with the Bulldogs fresh off a 16-strikeout no-no against Tennessee in Saturday's twinbill opener. Notre Dame transfer Kristin Schmidt (7-2, 1.17) paces the club in ERA, but allowed three home runs in the loss to the Lady Vols.
The Bulldogs continue to get consistent hitting and turned in, by far, its best showing against two-time all-SEC pitcher and South Carolina ace Megan Matthews this past weekend. State will bring a .275 team batting average into Baton Rouge, paced by five players hitting well above the .300 plateau.
Team batting leader Jennifer Nelson (23-for-55, .418), who has played sparingly in the last eight games due to a sprained ankle, will likely return to the starting lineup on Tuesday. Sophomore Kate Jaspers, who hit herfirst career home run in the bottom of the first inning on Sunday, is the team's hottest hitter, turning in a .421 average (8-for-19) over the last eight games.
Tuesday's series opening doubleheader is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch, while Wednesday's series finale will get underway at 4 p.m. All three games of the series will be played at the 1,000-seat Tiger Park. All three games of the series can be followed via a live stats link at http://www.LSUSports.net.