Southeastern Conference softball comes to Baton Rouge this weekend for the first time this season, but unfortunately for LSU, so is No. 1 Florida.
The Tigers (17-8) opened SEC play last weekend with a series loss to Auburn, and to bounce back, they’ll have to contend with the top-ranked Gators (26-1).
“We’ve shown that we can play with anyone,” said LSU coach Beth Torina. “It is a matter of being consistent with that performance. We have shown that we are capable of it. Now we just have to go out and do it on a regular basis.”
LSU is 2-5 against ranked teams this season, its two wins coming against top 15 opponents in Washington and Stanford.
Senior outfielder Jacee Blades said the opportunity to play against top ranked competition like Florida fuels the team to play harder.
To pull the upset, LSU’s rotation must bounce back after its shaky performance against Auburn, where the rotation combined to allow 19 walks and tallied only 12 strikeouts in three games.
“We just can’t give up a walk then a big hit like a home run because that happened numerous times,” said freshman pitcher Kelsee Selman. “The main thing [Torina] told us was to stay confident.”
Limiting mistakes will be crucial against Florida’s lineup, which features junior pitcher and first baseman Lauren Haeger, who leads the SEC with nine home runs.
While Haeger is the highlight of the Gators’ offense, Florida’s lineup as a whole leads the SEC in batting average and is tied for second in total home runs with 32.
Sophomore second baseman Kelsey Stewart, senior third baseman Stephanie Tofft, sophomore outfielder Kirsti Merritt and Haeger have combined to hit 114 RBIs so far this season.
LSU’s power hitters sophomore shortstop Bianka Bell and freshman catcher Sahvanna Jaquish are close behind with six home runs each.
Florida has a similar makeup of speed and power in its lineup. The Gators rank second in stolen bases in the SEC, falling only one steal short of LSU, which leads the conference.
LSU junior outfielder A.J. Andrews leads the conference in stolen bases with 21-22 the season.
The Tigers’ lineup must be consistently productive, which will relieve some pressure off of the pitching rotation.
The combination of speed and power in the lineup will play a key role against a Florida rotation that averages a 1.15 ERA.
“They don’t make mistakes,” Torina said. “They do everything well. They are going to swing well. They really have solid pitching. I think that is probably their greatest strength this year.”
First pitch of game one is set for 6 p.m. tonight at Tiger Park.