The LSU softball team won’t open the new Tiger Park for another six days, but the Tigers are set to start their season in an equally unique circumstance.The Tigers’ 2009 season begins today from Rainbow Wahine Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.”Everything about us right now is a whirlwind,” said LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard. “We leave for Hawaii on a very adventurous first tournament with 18 girls on the team — nine are new players.”The Tigers will travel a total of 4,142 miles to reach the Paradise Softball Classic. Their first opponent, Alabama-Birmingham, usually plays a mere 400 miles away from Baton Rouge.After opening against UAB, the Tigers will face No. 5 Oklahoma followed by Hawaii, which received 10 votes in the most recent ESPN/USA Collegiate Softball Top 25.”The University of Oklahoma is a perennial top-five team in college softball,” Girouard said. “The University of Hawaii has always had a fabulous program and we’re playing on their home field.”The Tigers’ offense may have to carry LSU through the weekend, as the team is experiencing “a couple of problems in the circle.” Senior pitcher Dani Hofer will miss an indefinite amount of time while still recovering from a right wrist injury she suffered in April. Junior pitcher Cody Trahan will also miss time, as she is recovering from lower back surgery.”These first couple of weeks are kind of going to be up in the air for us in the circle, as we have some issues there,” Girouard said. “Kirsten Shortridge, who is a pitcher, lead-off hitter and center fielder for us, also had a little arm surgery before she came in here.”Softball fans hoping for up-to-date coverage of the tournament may be out of luck because of the four hour time difference. The Tigers’ opener against UAB begins at 8 p.m. Hawaii time — around midnight local time — and the team’s third game against Hawaii won’t begin until 3 a.m. in Baton Rouge.”These couple of weeks will be a whirlwind for us. We come back Sunday, arrive home on a redeye at noon and we play Wednesday,” Girouard said. “We open up the new stadium, which is just flat gorgeous. It is unbelievably beautiful.”Girouard said she may feel out of place when LSU does make it home to the new Tiger Park. The Tigers have had very limited time in the new stadium because of ongoing construction.”We’ve actually been allowed to practice at the new field a total of four hours,” she said. “We’ve never been able to hit. We’ve never been in our dugout. We haven’t moved into the new building. When we play McNeese, I have a feeling the Tigers will look as lost as McNeese.”—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]