Softball looks to repeat

Tiger Talk

[Comment Below]

By Jason Dupuy

On May 12, 2007, the LSU softball team accomplished something it had only done, well, four times in the previous eight seasons – they won the SEC Tournament. The extra inning 1-0 pitchers’ duel gave them five championships in nine seasons. This year, they’ll be gunning for six in 10.

Last year, the Tigers placed four on the SEC All-Tournament team. Three of them – MVP Dani Hofer, Rachel Mitchell and Shannon Stein – return to defend the title.

The Tigers come into the tournament ranked second in the SEC West and No.15 in the nation. The single-elimination tourney kicks off Thursday morning with Tennessee and Georgia playing at 11 a.m. Florida and Ole Miss will follow at 1:30 p.m. with Alabama and Mississippi State’s first pitch set at 5 p.m.

LSU will play in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. against Auburn. All games will be played at LSU’s Tiger Park, as LSU is the host site for this year’s tournament. The Tigers beat Auburn in each of their three matchups this season, two blowouts sandwiched around an extra inning affair. In that series, starter Dani Hofer picked up the victory in each contest and was awarded with outstanding offensive backup, including homers from Rachel Mitchell, Quinlan Duhon and Killian Roessner.

The Tigers could not come into the tournament playing much better. They won their final conference series at home over the weekend, taking two of three from South Carolina. LSU scored five runs in the first three innings of Saturday morning’s game, and Cody Trahan held the Gamecocks to three runs over 5.1 innings to pick up her 16th win (against only four losses) of the season. Casey Faile pitched a perfect 1.2 innings in relief, striking out four. Right fielder Quinlan Duhon was the offensive hero, going 2-4 with a homer and four RBI.

Game two went the opposite way, as South Carolina fought their way to a 4-3 victory. LSU starter Tiffany Garcia lasted just one inning and was lifted after giving up three runs (two of them earned). Casey Faile again worked in relief, pitching five solid innings of one run ball. Shannon Stein and Jessica Mouse had two hits apiece, but couldn’t provide enough offense to overcome the early three run deficit. The Tigers did briefly tie it in the top of the ninth, but South Carolina finally broke through against Faile and notched the winning run.

With the SEC Tournament number three seed on the line, the Tigers hitters went into Sunday’s game swinging. LSU struck for three in the first, one in the third, three in the fifth and two in the sixth en route to a run-ruled victory 9-0 in the last game of the regular season.

Quinlan Duhon continued her marvelous weekend, with a 3-3 performance including a homerun and four RBI. She finished with six RBI over the weekend, extended her hitting streak to a career-best nine games and became the Tigers’ third leading career homerun leader, just three out of second and four away from first (Leslie Klein’s 32).

Cody Trahan improved to 17-4 on the strength of her dominating, yet unnecessary, performance. She pitched a complete game shutout, allowing just two hits.

The loss knocked South Carolina from the tournament’s eighth seed entering the day to ninth in the SEC and ineligible for the tourney.

“I’m really proud of the team today,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “They understood the importance of the game. We had a goal set, and we met it. On to the tournament where we have to have a championship mentality from here on in.”

The Tigers have had that mentality when it’s been needed this season. Their numbers might not be as good as last season, but they’ve played well in the clutch and did what was needed to gain a favorable matchup in the SEC Tournament.

Should LSU make it to the championship game to defend their title, it will be Saturday, May 10, at 12:30 p.m.

Originally Published: Issue 607 - May 6, 2008

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