Shannon Stein never quite felt at home in Corpus Christi, Texas. That is easy for a California native to say. The senior second baseman from Upland, Calif., transferred to LSU from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi after the 2005 season and said she has felt comfortable ever since. “All the fans and the team … this is my family,” Stein said. “I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else.” Stein said she was looking for a big southern school with a strong athletic program while at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. She said LSU impressed her because of its strong fan base and top-notch facilities. In the offseason, teammates named Stein co-captain for the second-straight year. She said she does not see herself or her fellow captains as the only leaders on the team. “It’s so easy to be a leader with the seven seniors,” Stein said. “I think of all of us as captains.” Fellow captain and senior Dee Dee Henderson said Stein is the Tigers’ “extreme” captain. “If [she’s] not on the field, it’s quiet,” Henderson said. “If [she’s] around, you hear [her].” Both Henderson and sophomore outfielder Jazz Jackson said Stein picks up the rest of the team even when she is not playing well. “If she’s having the worst weekend, she’s always there for you, picking you up,” Jackson said. “She always motivates us no matter what kind of game we’re having.” LSU coach Yvette Girouard said she always knows what she will get from Stein. “There’s no highs and lows with her,” Girouard said. “She’s always smiling.” Stein has turned herself into a complete player during her time at LSU. She committed only six errors in 120 attempts in 2007 and currently leads the team with a .457 batting average and 21 hits. “You never really look for her to make errors,” Henderson said. “She’s that constant that’s right there at second base.” The Tigers did not have that constant this past season when Stein missed 18 games because of a pinkie injury. She returned to the field only a month after surgery. “I don’t think she was going to let a little finger keep her out of the lineup,” Girouard said. Stein said she did one-arm drills with her healthy hand and a lot of running to stay in shape while recovering. She said her teammates helped her deal with her frustration during the rehab process. “When you miss five weeks, it’s really hard to come back and get right in the swing of things,” Stein said. Even while recovering from injury, Stein showed no fear, leading the team with seven hit-by-pitches. Girouard said Stein is the kind of person any other player would want as a teammate. “When she looks in the mirror 20 years from now, she can always say that she was a great teammate,” Girouard said. Stein and the rest of her teammates travel to Thibodaux on Wednesday to face Nicholls State at the Colonels Softball Complex. The No. 12 Tigers are 14-4 this season while the Colonels are 7-11. The Tigers defeated the Colonels, 9-2, earlier this season in the Easton Tiger Classic at Tiger Park.
—-Contact Robert Stewart at [email protected]