Hitters who stand in the batter’s box and glance straight down the middle of the No. 6 LSU softball team’s defense are used to seeing the same faces day in and day out. Senior centerfielder Leslie Klein and junior shortstop Andrea Smith have been in the starting lineup for all 45 of the Tigers’ games this season, and the duo started 68 and 69 games, respectively, in the 2006 season. The second base position has not been as consistent, though, partially because of a major injury to junior Shannon Stein. Stein missed 18 games with a broken finger before returning to action Mar. 28 in the Tigers’ 6-0 win against McNeese State University. The Upland, Calif., native went 0-for-1 against the Cowgirls, and then went hitless in the Tigers’ three-game sweep of the University of Auburn. But Stein has begun to find her swing again, hitting 5-for-14 in the Tigers’ current five-game home stand. LSU’s longest home stand since Southeastern Conference play began will end tonight after the Tigers’ (39-6, 14-3) game against Southeastern Louisiana University (23-22, 7-13) at 6 p.m. in Tiger Park. Stein, who is one of three co-captains for the Tigers this season, said she is grateful her injury occurred early in the season. “That’s what I looked at as being kind of the positive part about getting hurt,” Stein said. “It just gave a lot of other people chances and opportunities to play. Personally, I’m glad it happened at the beginning of the season.” LSU coach Yvette Girouard said she has not noticed any struggles since Stein returned to the lineup. “I think she’s swinging the bat well, [and] she’s hit the ball hard at people,” Girouard said. “She’s made some really nice, tough plays on fly balls that were tough balls to catch because of the wind.” Smith said Stein’s energy level is one of the many intangibles she brings to the team. “You can definitely tell when she’s not there,” Smith said. “Not only that, but she’s an amazing second baseman. It builds the defense’s confidence up 100 percent when she’s out there.” Finger problems have become a common theme for the Tigers this season. In addition to Stein, junior third baseman Tayl’r Hollis and freshman third baseman Lindsey Hope have missed action because of broken fingers. The injury bug struck again Friday against the University of South Carolina when junior designated player Dee Dee Henderson injured her finger in her first at-bat. Girouard said Henderson will be out of action for about a week and a half. “I don’t know of any exercise we can do to strengthen people’s fingers,” Girouard said jokingly. “It’s just a freak thing. Luckily for us we’ve had a team full of athletes.” The Tigers’ athletes have already had some experience this season against tonight’s opponents. LSU faced Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 25 at Tiger Park with the Tigers beating the Lady Lions, 13-0. LSU returns the favor with an Apr. 25 road trip to Hammond. Girouard said even though LSU shutout Southeastern Louisiana more than five months ago, the win means nothing because fall softball has a completely different atmosphere. “We don’t ever judge anything by [fall practice games],” Girouard said. “[The Lady Lions] always seem to give us a quality game, if not so much here, always in Hammond. You can’t overlook any opponent. The in-state teams, this is a huge game on their schedule.” The Tigers have 11 SEC games remaining this season and only three of those, a late April series against No. 1 University of Tennessee Volunteers, will be played in Baton Rouge. Girouard said this season’s scheduling has been advantageous to her team’s success. LSU also had the luxury of facing No. 3 University of Alabama at home this season, with the Tigers taking two of three games from the Crimson Tide. With eight games left until the Tigers’ nationally-televised tilt with the Vols, some players cannot help but look ahead. “We’re so excited,” Stein said. “I get goose-bumps every time I think about that series. It’s gonna be huge. I can’t wait.”
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