After staying alive at the Women’s College World Series with a 5-1 victory against No. 6 seed Alabama in the early hours of the morning, the fifth-seeded LSU softball team is looking to extend its run Sunday afternoon against No. 3 seed Michigan at 2:30 p.m.
The Tigers (52-13) were forced into a 10:42 p.m. first pitch Saturday night after Auburn and UCLA’s extra-inning affair lasted more than four hours. But LSU coach Beth Torina said the Tigers will handle the quick turnaround to the best of their abilities as they look to defeat the streaking Wolverines (58-6).
“We’ve been here before,” Torina said following the win against Alabama. “We had rain in the regional. We played really late Friday night, had an 11:00 a.m. start the next day. So we have been here. We’ve been here recently. It happened to us a couple times at the regional at our place. They dealt with the adversity really well there, and I think they will do it again here.”
LSU can draw on its triumph in the Baton Rouge Regional. The Tigers were on the brink of elimination before they bounced back to defeat Nebraska in extra innings and Arizona State twice, the second win against the Sun Devils also coming in extra innings.
But Michigan poses a stern test for LSU. The Wolverines are on a 27 game winning streak and haven’t lost a game since being run-ruled by Minnesota on April 3. 
During its unbeaten run, Michigan has run-ruled opponents 15 times. The Wolverines have outscored opponents 240-40 during the same stretch.
Sophomore Megan Betsa and senior Haylie Wagner have proven to be a dominant duo in the circle for the Wolverines. Betsa has accumulated a 31-4 record with a 1.60 ERA, and she has racked out 317 strikeouts in 201 innings pitched. Wagner follows at 23-2 with a 1.74 ERA.
Betsa was named a second team All-American, and Wagner earned selection to the third team.
Michigan couples a strong pitching staff with a potent lineup. The Wolverines are hitting .345. They have hit 117 home runs and have outscored opponents this season 530-115.
Junior shortstop Sierra Romero leads Michigan in batting average (.466) and RBIs (81) and is tied for the lead in home runs (21). Sophomore outfielder Kelly Christner has a .412 batting average and has accumulated 164 total bases. Christner also has smashed 21 home runs.
The pair’s exploits earned them NFCA First Team All-American honors. 
LSU equaled Michigan’s five selections to the recently announced All-American teams. Freshman pitchers Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper were third team selections, and they lead LSU’s rotation. 
Hoover is 18-6 with a 1.63 ERA, and Walljasper follows closely behind at 16-5 and an ERA of 1.84. 
Sophomore right fielder Bailey Landry (.429) and junior shortstop Bianka Bell (.421) lead the team in batting average. Bell earned first team All-American honors, and Landry was selected to the second team.
Sophomore third baseman Sahvanna Jaquish earned a spot on the second team with a .318 batting average, 17 home runs and 76 RBIs.
If the Tigers win Game 1, they will force an if necessary game scheduled at 8:30 p.m. The if necessary game could be pushed to 6 p.m. if Florida eliminates Auburn in the teams’ first game this afternoon.