Ernest Rodrigue
April 16, 2007
Antoinette Rodrigue
April 18, 2007
The LSU baseball team, which let a key series slip through its hands two weekends ago, did not have a repeat performance this past weekend.
The Tigers improved to 21-16-1 overall and 6-8-1 in the Southeastern Conference after taking the first two games of the series in Baton Rouge against No. 13 Ole Miss. LSU posted a 4-3 win on Friday and a 8-2 victory on Saturday before falling on Sunday, 16-5.
The Tigers, who are unranked, started off the series with a victory in their last at-bat as Ryan Schimpf drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning. Jared Mitchell had three of LSU’s 14 hits in the contest. On the mound, starter Charlie Furbush allowed three runs over 6.1 innings, but it was reliever Jared Bradford (6-2) who got the win after throwing two innings and not allowing a hit.
On Saturday, the Tigers jumped out to a three-run lead after the first and never looked back. Ryan Byrd notched the first complete game for LSU this season. Byrd (5-1) allowed seven hits, two runs and struck out three. Offensively, Robert Lara had two hits and two runs batted in. In the final game of the series, Blake Dean had a solo home run and Chris Jackson recorded two RBIs, but it wasn’t enough as the Rebels exploded for 16 runs against five Tiger hurlers.
Earlier in the week, LSU topped Mississippi Valley State, 4-1, on Wednesday. In that game, Blake Dean had three hits and an RBI. On the mound, eight Tiger pitchers yielded 10 hits to the visitors.
LSU will play on Wednesday in New Orleans against UNO in the annual Wally Pontiff Jr. Classic at Zephyr Field at 7 p.m. This weekend, the Tigers will travel to Mississippi State for games on Friday (6:30 p.m.), Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1:30 p.m.). A series sweep against MSU (23-8, 8-5) could catapult LSU up to second place in the SEC West.
SOFTBALL TEAM SWEEPS MISSISSIPPI STATE
Dani Hofer and the sixth-ranked LSU softball team outlasted Mississippi State, 4-1 and 4-3, in a Southeastern Conference doubleheader on a rainy, cold and windy Saturday afternoon at the MSU Softball Field. Playing an extra-inning doubleheader for just the second time in school history, the Tigers improved to 42-6 on the year and 16-3 in Southeastern Conference play. The win was also the sixth straight for the Lady Tigers against MSU.
Hofer (19-1) earned the win in both games, pitching a complete-game to start the series and coming on in relief to earn the win the second contest. In the first game, she allowed just one run on four hits with a pair of walks and 13 strikeouts in nine innings. She had a no-hit bid broken up in the bottom of the seventh.
In the second game, Hofer allowed no runs in the last 2.2 innings as the fourth Lady Tiger pitcher of the game.
Tayl’r Hollis continued her hot streak at the plate as she nailed a pair of home runs, including a two-run shot in game one in the ninth inning that proved to be the game winner. For the day, she went 3-for-8 with two home runs and three RBIs. With hits in both games, she extended her hitting streak to 12 games, the longest of her LSU career and the second longest by any Tiger player this season. Rachel Mitchell came up with the big RBI in the second game. With runners on first and second, she hit a deep fly ball to right center field that looked like it may be her seventh home run of the year, but was caught at the wall deep enough to allow Andrea Smith to tag up and score from second for the sacrifice fly game winner.
On Wednesday, the Lady Tigers topped Southeastern Louisiana, 8-0, in a game shortened to five innings in Baton Rouge because of the mercy rule. Offensively, Leslie Klein notched a two-run triple in the six-run second. With the hit, she broke the RBI and total base records at LSU. The Sunrise, Fla., native now has 176 career RBIs, surpassing the 174 by Tara Asbill from 1997-2000. In addition, the triple gave her three total bases, to run her career total to 433, also passing Asbill, who had 431. Klein also jumped up to sixth from eighth in career RBIs in SEC. Shannon Stein recorded three hits and RBIs and teammate Kristen Hobbs had two hits and two RBIs. On the mound, Tiffany Garcia (6-0) allowed one hit in four innings. Cody Trahan added one perfect inning of relief.
CHANCELLOR HIRED BY LSU
Van Chancellor, who was recently selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, has been named the head women’s basketball coach at LSU.
Chancellor, who succeeds Pokey Chatman, becomes the fifth women’s basketball coach in the school’s 32 year history of playing the sport. Chancellor, a veteran head coach of 29 years at both the collegiate and professional levels, brings to LSU an impeccable resume, one that includes leading the United States to a gold medal in the 2004 Olympics Games, four WNBA titles with the Houston Comets and 14 NCAA Tournament appearances at Ole Miss.
In addition to his recent selection to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, along with the likes of Roy Williams, Phil Jackson and Mendy Rudolph, Chancellor is also a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Success has followed Chancellor at every turn, as he posted a 38-0 mark in International competition as head coach of the United States Olympic Team. Add to that his 211 victories as head coach of the Comets and the 439 games he won at Ole Miss, and Chancellor comes to LSU with nearly 700 victories to his credit. Most recently, Chancellor served for 10 years as head coach of the Houston Comets from 1997-2006. During that time, Chancellor was named the WNBA Coach of the Year three times (1997, 1998, 1999) and he led the franchise to the league’s first four titles. Under Chancellor’s direction, the Comets were the only team in the WNBA to make the playoffs in each of the first seven seasons of the league.
LSU SCHEDULE
LSU vs. UNO
Zephyr Field
Wednesday at 7 p.m.
LSU vs. MSU
At Mississippi State
Weekend series
