No. 11 LSU hosts No. 1 Oklahoma in Baton Rouge

The final midweek game played at Tiger Park in the 2023 campaign will be the biggest of them all as No. 11/12 LSU (33-7) host the reigning National Champions, No. 1 Oklahoma at 6 p.m. CT Tuesday, April 11 on ESPN2.

Beth Mowins and Michele Smith will have the call on ESPN2, while Patrick Wright, the Voice of LSU Softball, will be calling the action on 107.3 FM in the Baton Rouge area. The first 500 fans in attendance Tuesday night will receive a free black LSU Softball shirt.

The LSU Outlook

The Tigers are coming off a 2-1 SEC series win over Missouri and are 9-1 in their last 10 games. As a unit, LSU ranks No. 2 in the SEC with 340 hits and No. 3 with a .326 batting average, while defensively recording the second-lowest ERA in the conference at 1.97.

Junior infielder Danieca Coffey continues to lead the SEC with a .442 batting average and 57 hits. Coffey also leads the Tigers with 34 runs scored and matches junior outfielder Ciara Briggs with a team-high nine stolen bases. Briggs has a .357 batting average, and her 46 hits ranks No. 4 in the SEC to go along with 31 runs scored.

True freshman pitcher Sydney Berzon (11-2) ranks No. 10 in the SEC with 84 strikeouts and has a 1.71 ERA in 86.0 innings pitched. Berzon’s 84 punch outs are the 10th most in program history from a freshman.

Graduate pitcher Ali Kilponen is 10-4 in the circle and has a 2.05 ERA behind 82 strikeouts (No. 11 in the SEC). Kilponen has tossed 10 complete games with three shutouts and three saves in 92.0 innings pitched. Kilponen ranks No. 10 all-time in the program’s history with 54 career wins and her 444 career strikeouts ranks No. 9 in the program’s record book.

Junior shortstop Taylor Pleasants is batting .360 with 41 RBIs (No. 3 in SEC) and has 36 hits, eight home runs and 25 runs scored. Graduate infielder Georgia Clark has a .324 batting average with 34 hits and rank No. 2 in the SEC with 32 walks. Clark has a team-high nine home runs this season and adds 30 RBIs. Both Clark and Pleasants sit at No. 4 and No. 5 all-time in LSU softball history with 39 and 37 career home runs, respectively. Clark also ranks No. 3 all-time with 121 career walks and No. 10 all-time with 149 career ribbies, while Pleasants is No. 8 all-time with 159 career RBIs.

The Tigers’ role players have shined beginning with junior utility player Raeleen Gutierrez and graduate infielder Karli Petty. Gutierrez has improved to a .360 batting average and Petty is batting .320 on the year. In the last 10 games, Gutierrez and Petty is batting .407 and .387, respectively. In that span, Gutierrez has tallied 11 hits and Petty has collected 12. Junior outfielder Ali Newland leads LSU with 14 hits in SEC games only, and freshman pitcher Alea Johnson is 6-0 in the circle and ranks No. 5 in the SEC with a 0.97 ERA in 29.0 innings pitched.

The Oklahoma Outlook

LSU and Oklahoma are tied in the all-time series 8-8. The last time these two clubs met, the Sooners defeated the Tigers 7-3 in the 2016 NCAA Women’s College World Series. The last time the teams faced each other in the regular season, LSU took both games against Oklahoma 1-0 and 10-2 March 20-21, 2015 at Tiger Park.

Oklahoma is riding a 28-game winning streak with its loan loss of the season being a 4-3 setback at Baylor Feb. 19 in Waco, Texas. The Sooners are 9-0 in the Big 12, including a series sweep against Texas Tech last weekend that featured three consecutive shutouts.

OU leads the NCAA with a .380 batting average this season, a .988 fielding percentage and ranks No. 2 in the country with a 0.91 ERA. Offensively, Oklahoma has 361 hits, including 69 home runs, while the pitching staff has held opponents to a .150 batting average behind 295 strikeouts and has a nation-best 22 shutouts.

The Sooners have three batters hitting over .440, including junior outfielder Jayda Coleman (.464), senior utility player Haley Lee (.446) and junior infielder Tiare Jennings (.446). Coleman leads Oklahoma with 45 hits, 44 runs scored, 11 stolen bases and a .918 slugging percentage (No. 7 in NCAA). Colman and Lee each have 11 homers to pace the team, and Jennings, who also has 45 hits, leads the offense with 39 RBIs.

OU has a dominant pitching staff that features junior pitcher Nicole May (11-0) who has a staff-low 0.43 ERA and team-high 98 strikeouts in 64.2 innings pitched. Sophomore pitcher Jordy Bahl (11-1) has a 1.42 ERA and 92 strikeouts with four shutouts in 74.0 innings pitched. Senior pitcher Alex Storako (12-0) rounds out the top arms for Oklahoma as she enters the midweek game with a 0.74 ERA with 83 strikeouts in 66.2 innings pitched. She also holds opponents to a staff-low .137 batting average. Storako leads the country with an 11.86 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

On Deck for LSU

LSU will get back to SEC play with a three-game series at Auburn April 14-16 at Jane B. Moore Field in Auburn, Ala.

Editor’s note: This is a press release from LSUSports.net