The Tigers bring some West Coast flavor to Tennessee this weekend as they look to right the ship in Southeastern Conference play. No. 14 LSU (33-12, 11-8) travels to No. 11 Tennessee (41-8, 11-7) hoping to turn around a 3-8 skid in conference play, and the Tigers will rely on three players from California to help get the job done. The Tigers’ reliance upon California talent is nothing new. One of the dominant figures on the Tigers’ roster in recent seasons, former pitcher Emily Turner, came to Baton Rouge from San Diego, as did former LSU infielder Vanessa Soto. But LSU coach Yvette Girouard said the amount of California players is more a reflection of the wealth of talent in California than LSU focusing on recruiting there. “It’s been the hot bed of talent in the past,” Girouard said. “You look at the Olympic team, and it’s littered with California and Arizona players. I don’t think we look at just one certain section of the country. It just happens that we have some California girls on our team.” Second baseman Shannon Stein and first baseman Erika Sluss, both seniors, are now the elder statesmen of the California Tigers with the departures of Turner and Soto. Stein, whose .325 average is second on the team, said she came to LSU for the competition of the SEC. “LSU has always just been a well-known school – even on the West Coast,” Stein said. “They’ve always had a top softball program. After leaving Corpus-Christi, I wanted that atmosphere.” Girouard said Stein, who transfered from Corpus-Christi Community College, is a perfect example of the California talent on LSU’s roster not necessarily indicating an emphasis on recruiting the area. “She just sort of fell in our lap, which we’re very grateful for,” Girouard said. Stein said she knew Turner before they had a chance to be teammates at LSU and the two easily became friends because of their ability to joke about things from back home. Sluss said she had played with Soto in California and also competed against Turner in field hockey. She said knowing Turner and Soto helped her cross-country transition. Sluss and Stein have had a chance to return the favor this season, helping freshman outfielder Ashley Applegate, a Modesto native, get comfortable with her new surroundings. But Sluss said Applegate’s transitions on the field and in the classroom have probably been more difficult than her overall surroundings. “The biggest transition for her has been softball-wise, not the whole environment,” Sluss said. “I think it’s easy to come from California to here where everything’s relaxed.” One of the biggest hurdles for Applegate so far has been Louisiana’s humid weather. “I actually have ashtma,” Applegate said. “The humidity compared to California weather is a big culture shock.” And while south Louisiana’s weather and culture may be different from home, none of the Tigers’ West Coast trio said they would trade LSU for the California beach. “I love California,” Sluss said. “It’s where I’m from, but I like being here because it’s so different. Everybody’s so much nicer than people in California. On my visit, everybody brought you into the family as soon as I met them. The whole family atmosphere – I really feel more at home here than I do back in California.”
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]