As junior outfielder A.J.
Andrews fielded the final out of a March 1 victory against Lamar and the LSU softball team began its postgame routine, something felt off.
The sun was still out and the field was not beaten from a full game because of something Tigers fans have been fortunate to experience all too often in 2014 — the mercy rule.
The guidelines for the mercy rule are simple: When one team has a lead of eight or more runs after five innings, the game is called without playing the final two innings. If a team gains an eight-run lead between the fifth and the bottom of the seventh, it also wins through the
rule.
With an invigorated offense and a new mentality, LSU has won seven of its 25 games with the mercy rule. Since 2010, no LSU team has managed to win more than nine mercy-rule games in a season.
The explosion originated in the offseason, as the team entered the third year under hitting coach Howard Dobson’s system. Dobson stressed the importance of learning from failure and taking smart at-bats.
The Tigers’ offensive
attack has been twofold, relying on a combination of speed and power. Andrews, a Preseason
All-Southeastern Conference honoree, is the heart of the speed element, leading LSU in batting average, .407, and stolen bases, 21.
Going toward the middle of the lineup, sophomore shortstop Bianka Bell, freshman infielder Sahvanna Jaquish and sophomore catcher Kellsi Kloss introduce the power aspect. The trio has contributed 17 home runs, 31 extra-base hits and 58 RBIs in 2014.
Senior outfielder Jacee Blades said the blending of both attacks is a key reason the Tigers have dominated their
opponents so often.
“Some days we’ll have the power hold the team, and some days we’ll rely on our speed to be a spark,” Blades said. “I love that we have both aspects of the game.”
But a mercy rule win requires superb pitching as much as hitting, and the Tigers’ three starting pitchers have helped match the offense.
Senior pitcher Ashley
Czecher’s first three wins were with the mercy rule, and freshman pitcher Kelsee Selman pitched her first career no-hitter Feb. 28 in a six-inning, mercy-rule victory against Jackson State.
Selman said the added runs gave her confidence to make it through the outing without
missing a beat.
The coaching staff has also instilled a mantra to never take the foot off the gas pedal. When the team has gotten large leads in the first few innings, the staff reiterates the need for more runs and to never lay off the
opponent.
“The worst thing you can give a team is hope,” Dobson said. “If you’re hitting the ball well and you’re scoring runs, and all of a sudden you relax a little bit, that’s when they come up to bite you from behind. We want to make sure we keep pushing, keep going to the next step.”
When the Tigers go deeper into SEC play, the domination of opponents is likely to drop. Last season, of the Tigers’ nine
mercy-rule wins, only two came in their 23 SEC games.
But Kloss sees a team with a cutthroat mentality that will be essential in the gauntlet of the SEC.
“Even if we don’t reach that goal of getting it done in five innings, if you aim high you’re going to end up somewhere pretty close,” Kloss said. “That’s what we’re shooting for.”