“Why not us?”
That was the question that the LSU softball team asked themselves and one another when in practice last week. They knew that they were preparing for the biggest weekend thus far in their season. The Tigers were scheduled to face the number two seated team in the SEC for their very first weekend of conference play. It was time to host the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Going into this weekend, LSU led the series versus Alabama with an all-time record of 43-40, but the Tide has won six consecutive games against the Tigers. Alabama was rolling into Baton Rouge undefeated, with twenty wins under its belt. Little did the Crimson Tide know, though, that when they would be saying goodbye to Baton Rouge, they would also be saying goodbye to their 20-game win streak.
LSU beat all the odds this weekend. Not only did the Tigers put a close on Alabama’s undefeated tenure, they also had to make up for suddenly losing their starting pitcher due to injury. Shelbi Sunseri began game one in the circle for the Tigers. She pitched one inning and was on track to have an extremely successful appearance; allowing one hit in the four batters she faced. Sunseri’s game time came to an unfortunate end, though, when in her first at bat against Montana Fouts, she took a fast ball straight to the face. The ball tipped off of her bat and made contact with her nose. With no face guard on her helmet, the ball that was coming out of Fouts hand in the high sixties, at least, did quite some damage.
Sunseri walked slowly off of the field with a towel to her nose. It would later be announced that her nose was broken, and that stitches were most likely also needed. The loss of not only their starting pitcher but also of a dominant bat in the lineup meant that others would need to step up in a big way. This player, for head coach Beth Torina, was Georgia Clark.
“Shelbi going out in the first game for us was huge,” Clark said. “It was kind of a blow, but Coach came up to me right after and told me, ‘Georgia, you’ve got to pick it up, we have got to get this done. We have got to rebuild and keep going.’”
Clark didn’t miss a step at the plate for either game. She homered to left field in the sixth inning of game one, a two run RBI. Before her homerun, she doubled down the right field line. In game two, though, is where Clark really came in clutch for the Tigers. She went to the plate in the third inning with two outs and bases loaded after shortstop Taylor Pleasants was intentionally walked. Pleasants homered in the bottom of the fifth inning in game one, and was conducting extremely effective at-bats. With two outs and bases loaded, Alabama literally set Clark up for success. Clark hunkered down on a low ball right up the middle and went yard. The grand slam sent shock waves through the Alabama defense, and filled LSU’s dugout with energy. Clark’s hit meant that the Tigers were leading the game with four runs to Crimson Tide’s one.
Another force to be reckoned with in game two came from inside of the circle. Freshman pitcher, Raelin Chaffin, was called upon to start for LSU. Torina’s game plan for game two before Sunseri went down, was to have Ali Kilponen start. When Sunseri was taken out in game one, however, Kilponen had to take over.
“You never know when your number is going to be called,” Torina explained, in regards to her last minute choice of Chaffin. “She was ready when her number was called.”
And ready she was. Chaffin went on to pitch a nearly complete game. She faced 22 batters in game two, and allowed for only one hit; a homerun in the second inning.
Chaffin had yet to face such a big opponent in the circle for the Tigers, and this game was the first time in her college career that she faced SEC play. This accomplishment meant even more against the second team in the nation.
“In the last couple of games that I’ve pitched, I haven’t gotten the results I wanted,” Chaffin explained. “I know I can do so much more than what I’ve been showing. So once Coach told me I was starting, I just went in with the mindset of ‘Why not LSU? Why not me? Why not this time? Why not us?’”
LSU won two of the three games against Alabama, falling short in game three with one run to UA’s two. The Tigers took game one with 13 runs to The Crimson Tide’s six, and game two with five runs to only one from Alabama.
This weekend of success ignites a confidence with LSU Softball, especially going into even more conference play. Taking down the number two team in the nation only proves how capable this roster is.
Next up for LSU is a midweek game against the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions. The game will take place right here in Tiger Park on March 15, at 6 p.m.
