Clarence Richardel
April 9, 2007Lafourche deputies foil couple’s illegal romantic fling
April 11, 2007
This past weekend, the LSU baseball team had a great chance to get back into the Southeastern Conference West Division race. After taking 2-of-3 against nationally ranked Alabama two weekends ago in Tuscaloosa, the Tigers played host to the Auburn Tigers, who were 1-18 in their last 19-league contest. With a sweep by LSU, it could have moved up to third in the division standings and also posted its first winning mark in conference play this season.
However, things didn’t go as planned for the LSU Tigers. Auburn won Friday’s game, 6-1, and then blanked LSU, 7-0, on Saturday in Baton Rouge.
Sunday’s game was all LSU as it claimed a 10-1 victory. The LSU Tigers won the final game of the series with the help of Chris Jackson’s career-high four hits and a strong performance on the mound by Jared Bradford (5-2). Bradford went seven strong innings and allowed one run on six hits while striking out nine.
LSU (18-15-1 overall and 4-7-1 in the SEC) also got two RBIs each from Blake Dean and Chris McGhee. Michael Hollander also added his fourth home run (a solo shot) of the season. With the loss, Auburn fell to 23-12 overall and 3-9 in the SEC).
On Friday, the only bright spot for LSU was Jared Mitchell, who notched one of only three team hits and had the lone RBI. On Saturday, the LSU Tigers were blanked for only the second time this season. Earlier in the week, the Tigers fell to Tulane, 16-9, at Zephyr Field in Kenner. In that game, LSU fell behind 10-0 after three innings, but battled back with three runs in the fourth and six in the seventh inning. Dean had three hits and an RBI; Ryan Schimpf collected two hits n including a home run — and three RBIs. Seven LSU pitches combined to allow a season-high 22 hits.
The Tigers will play host to Mississippi Valley State at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday and then No. 10 Ole Miss over the weekend (Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 3 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.).
SOFTBALL TEAM CONTINUES TO ROLL
The fifth-ranked LSU softball team split a doubleheader on Friday and then won the series with a 2-0 victory over South Carolina on Saturday in Baton Rouge.
In the first game of the doubleheader, the Lady Gamecocks posted two runs in the fifth inning to erase the Lady Tiger lead and hand Emily Turner (13 wins) her fifth loss of the season. The second game of the twinbill went a lot differently as LSU blasted South Carolina, 8-0, in a five-inning contest that was called because of the mercy rule. Dani Hofer threw the complete-game one-hitter and struck out seven. Offensively, Kristen Hobbs had a home run and two RBIs, while Tayl’r Hollis added two runs batted in as well. A six-run fifth ended the game. On Saturday, LSU jumped on top in the bottom of the first with RBIs by Leslie Klein and Hollis. Hofer (17-1) allowed two hits in seven innings and struck out nine. The Lady Tigers (39-6 overall, 14-3 in the SEC) will play to Southeastern Louisiana at 6 p.m. on Wednesday before traveling to Starkville for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
KLEIN ONE OF 25 FINALISTS FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
For the second consecutive year, LSU All-American Leslie Klein was named one of 25 finalists for USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year.
Klein was one of six players from the Southeastern Conference named to the list. Joining former Tiger All-Americans Britni Sneed, Trena Peel and Kristin Schmidt, Klein is the fourth LSU player to be named a finalist for the award.
A third-team NFCA All-America selection in 2004 and again in 2006, Klein leads the team and ranks fourth in the SEC with a .422 batting average and leads the conference with 16 doubles. The senior from Sunrise, Fla., also ranks in the top 10 in the league in slugging percentage, on base percentage, runs scored, hits, RBIs, triples, total bases and walks. On separate occasions this year, she has enjoyed nine-game and 10-game hitting streaks. She also leads the team with 15 multiple-hit games and 12 multiple-RBI games. On nine occasions, she has knocked in the game-winning RBIs, including a pair of wins over then No. 10 Florida and a win over No. 2 Alabama. The LSU career record holder for doubles, she also ranks first in career batting average and slugging percentage in school history. She is on the cusp of also breaking school records for home runs and RBIs, while ranking in the top 10 in Tiger softball history in hits, runs scored, triples, stolen bases and sacrifice flies.
DAVIS, MITCHELL NAMES TO ALL-LOUISIANA TEAM
Glen Davis and Tasmin Mitchell were each named to the first team of the All-Louisiana team recently. Davis, who has opted to forgo his senior season and enter the NBA Draft, also was a first-team All-SEC selection. He finished the season averaging 17.7 points per game and 10.4 rebounds per game. Mitchell, who will be a junior for the upcoming 2007-2008 season, averaged 14.5 points per game last season.
