The LSU softball team has accomplished a lot this season — its best start in program history, the longest win streak in program history and the best start to a season by any LSU sports team.
The Tigers may have rewritten the record book, but they’re just now entering the business end of the season. LSU hosts Auburn in a three-game series, beginning today at 6 p.m., before hosting the Southeastern Conference Tournament. Following the SEC Tournament, LSU will be involved in at least NCAA Regionals play.
Ahead of the crucial games, LSU is focused on cutting down on walks and errors.
“Postseason, it’s kind of crunch time,” said senior center fielder A.J. Andrews. “You can’t give a team anything when it comes down to the postseason because the team, if you give them a little, they’re going to take a lot.”
LSU has won 43 of its 51 games, sprinkling 105 walks and 54 errors throughout the games on its schedule. Losses may have been infrequent for the Tigers in 2015, but most of the free passes they’ve allowed have come in that small sample size.
In its eight losses, LSU has allowed 35 walks and committed 17 errors. Those figures mean nearly a third of LSU’s walks and errors have come in just eight games.
LSU coach Beth Torina said Auburn has the best offense in the SEC on paper. Auburn leads the SEC in batting average (.368), hits (504), on-base percentage (.484), home runs (92), RBIs (411) and slugging percentage (.642), meaning it doesn’t need much help when it comes to scoring.
“Limiting the free passes is huge,” said junior catcher Kellsi Kloss. “Auburn is already so talented, you can’t give them any more free passes than they’re already going to give themselves. They’re going to make their own breaks, but we can’t allow them to capitalize on our mistakes. We need to make sure that our defense is sharp [and] our pitching is sharp, too, because we can’t allow them to capitalize on anything we give them.”
After the Auburn series, LSU will have to shift its focus to the SEC Tournament and then the NCAA Regionals. In the latest NFCA poll, the SEC has nine ranked teams. When the NCAA Regionals begin, the nation’s top teams from each conference will be competing to move on to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series. Andrews said every team is capable of punishing mistakes in the postseason.
“It just comes down to inches in the postseason,” Andrews said. “Every team is good. Every team is up for a win. Every team is gutsy. If you give a team anything, it really could be the last of the game. If we limit that [and] we play hard, LSU softball, I don’t believe there’s a team that can beat us. We can only beat ourselves.”
You can reach Jack Woods on Twitter @Jack_TDR.