April 1, 2008

LAKE CHARLES-- McNeese State's softball team will step out of Southland Conference play today when the Cowgirls (15-25, 8-7 SLC) will travel to nationally ranked LSU (29-7, 8-3 SLC) for a single game beginning at 6 p.m.

The Cowgirls enter the game, having won seven of their last eight games including their first Southland Conference series sweep of the season against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Senior Jenny Clay, who was named this week's Co-Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week and Southland Conference Player of the Week will lead the Cowgirls into the game with a .402 batting average, .696 slugging percent, 41 hits, 13 doubles, five home runs and 20 RBI's. Clay is coming off a phenomenal week where she produced a .824 batting average with a 14 for 17 plate appearance, six doubles, one triple and three home runs. She also scored seven runs and had nine RBI's.

In the circle, Michelle LaVoie leads the Cowgirls with eight victories and a 3.72 ERA in 109 innings of work. She also leads the team with 38 strikeouts.

LSU enters the game ranked 10th in the nation in this week's USA Today/NFCA poll and 11th in the ESPN.com/USA Collegiate Softball poll. The Tigers are coming off a three game SEC series loss at No. 3 Florida. The losses snapped a 15-game winning streak. LSU has won 18 of their last 22 games and are led by Shannon Stein's .379 average. Stein also leads the team with 36 hits.