The LSU Eunice Lady Bengals won four straight before the rains set in and stalled their softball season.
With the 8-4, 11-4 wins over Galveston combined with the 14-2, 10-5 sweep of Lamar College, LSUE
surpassed last year’s 15-29 record.
Entering today’s scheduled road trip to Alvin Community College, the Lady Bengals are 16-10 overall under first year head coach Andy Lee.
“I would rather play than practice,” Lee said of the 10-day layoff. “We had a break in the schedule because Baton Rouge cancelled their season and then the rain washed out the doubleheader at Galveston.”
The Lady Bengal coach is not surprised his team is winning games, but he is stunned by the way they are winning.
“We are averaging over two home runs and they are hitting the ball well right now,” Lee said. “But the other thing that is helping us is our pitchers are starting to get the big out when needed.
“We are not having the bad blow-up inning where we are giving up five, six or seven runs an inning.
“We are making the big defensive play or the big pitch to get the out.”
Sophomore catcher Rhea Person is third in Division II with 11 home runs in 21 games.
“She is seeing the ball better and the off-season weight program may have helped,” Lee said of Person’s prowess at the plate. “She has gotten more confidence.”
Megan McHugh from South Suburban College from Illinois leads the nation with 28, while her teammate Samantha Sedoris is second with 12 roundtrippers.
Lady Bengal Hayley Sanchez is presently fifth in the nation with 10 home runs and ranked seventh with 32 RBI.
Lindsey Babin is seventh in home runs with eight in 24 games, while Kim St. Amant is ninth with eight round trippers.
Chasity Fontenot is ranked tenth in Division II with 29 RBI.
“I am very surprised we have this much power,” Lee said of the team’s long ball hitting. “We are scoring a lot of runs and that is fun.”
As a team the Lady Bengals are ranked seventh with a batting average of .352.
“The girls have gotten the taste of winning and they are working harder and have more and more confidence.”
Pitcher Stacy Sutton is ranked 15th with 63 strikeouts, while Sarah Mahavier is No. 17 in the nation with five stolen bases.
“Stacy is very good,” Lee said of the freshman from Est. St. John. “When she throws strikes and gets ahead in the count, she is tough.”
Lee said most of the offensive records will be broken this season including home runs, runs scored and RBI.
“It has been a fun season so far,” Lee said. “The girls all seem to get along and the team chemistry is very good.”
=====
