The LSU softball team is leaving rainy Baton Rouge for the desert of Las Vegas this weekend.
The No. 25 Tigers (2-2) faced a rain delay in their season opener, a 5-3 defeat at the hands of Penn State, and were forced to reschedule Wednesday’s matchup with Florida State for April 17.
Luckily for LSU, this weekend’s forecast calls for sunny skies in Las Vegas for the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.
The competition will be stiff, as the Tigers face DePaul — a team receiving votes in the polls — No. 3 California, California State Northridge and Utah State.
Senior outfielder Ashley Applegate said the Tigers are excited to face such talented teams early in the season.
“We’re always excited to play against great competition,” she said. “It’s a privilege to have these opportunities, and we just look forward to capitalizing on this good competition.”
The Golden Bears are 4-0 after an opening weekend that featured a 13-5 win against Tennessee and two shutouts. The team is ranked No. 1 in the ESPN poll.
LSU coach Beth Torina said she likes California’s high rankings, adding that the Tigers have the Golden Bears “right where we want them.”
LSU started its season last weekend with losses to Penn State and No. 15 Michigan, but things turned around quickly.
The Tigers notched their first win in the second battle with Penn State, defeating the Nittany Lions, 1-0. They finished their weekend with an 8-0 domination of Louisiana Tech, which featured two RBIs from senior infielder Juliana Santos and a one-hit shutout from junior pitcher Rachele Fico.
“We got better every game we played this weekend,” Torina said. “If we can do that throughout the entire 52 games left on the
schedule, then we’re going to be a great team when it comes to the post-season.”
This weekend will also serve as LSU’s first trip away from Tiger Park this season.
“Tiger Park has a great atmosphere,” Fico said. “We have the best fans in the world, and they’re so intense and so into it. It’s a fantastic place to play, so when we go away, we really need to focus on staying within ourselves and playing the game like we know how.”
Torina said she still doesn’t have a lineup set, but she was happy with Applegate in the lead-off spot, which she said “set the tone” for the Tigers’ hitting.
Torina also said she would still be moving new players into the lineup this weekend.
“There’s still a couple people that haven’t gotten an opportunity yet that deserve one,” she said. “You’ll still see a couple more faces in there before we have the final set lineup.”
 
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Contact Albert Burford at [email protected]