LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard is probably a little tired of dodging raindrops.With heavy rains passing through Baton Rouge last weekend, Girouard may finally have clear skies for LSU’s doubleheader tonight against No. 2 Alabama (23-2, 3-0).Girouard and No. 21 LSU (15-6, 2-2) have been forced to cancel seven games in the past two weeks because of bad weather.”We’re in the middle of March Madness right now, and March Madness has certainly hit our softball team,” Girouard said.The state of Georgia has been particularly unkind to the Tigers in that stretch. LSU didn’t play a single game of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga., from Feb. 27 to March 1 because of rain.And LSU dropped a 6-5 contest last weekend to Georgia in Athens before rain caused the second two games of the series to be canceled.”In the second game, we had the bases loaded in the fourth inning with one out,” Girouard said. “We never got to complete [the game] and never saw the field on Sunday. It’s been a pretty frustrating start already in conference competition.”A series win against the Crimson Tide could keep the Tigers on pace in the Southeastern Conference Western Division. LSU is third in the division at 2-2. Arkansas is first with a 4-0 record, and Alabama is second at 3-0.”It looks like we’re going to have fantastic weather for a team that’s ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in every poll in the country,” Girouard said. “Alabama and Florida are picked to win the league … This is a fabulous team coming in. They have pitching, they have speed and they can hit it out of the park.”Girouard said LSU and Alabama are the only SEC West teams to win the division since the SEC split into East and West divisions.”We have a long history together … and it’s always a war on the field between the Tide and the Tigers,” Girouard said. “We’re looking for a fabulous crowd [tonight] because this is about as good a team as you’ll see in college softball and as great an atmosphere as, hopefully, we can produce out there.”Girouard will likely get a good student turnout if nothing else. The LSU Athletic Department designated the Alabama doubleheader as a student priority point game.Students who swipe their student IDs at Tiger Park will receive priority points for away-game football tickets.
 
—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]