As if the Mississippi River didn’t dictate enough about life in southeast Louisiana, it may now decide the fortunes of the LSU softball team.Located across the street from the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, the new Tiger Park is set just a stone’s throw away from the banks of the river.Wind didn’t seem to be a factor in the Tigers’ Feb. 11 opener against McNeese State, as the flags in center field sat dead at the top of their poles.But in the Easton Tiger Classic this weekend, the wind blew hard in toward the plate, out to left field and gently from left to right over the course of one game. In three days worth of softball, played in rainy, overcast and sunny conditions, the wind changed direction seemingly every inning.The windy conditions caused by the river are one of a few nuances to the new Tiger Park.”Soccer had warned us that the wind would just be nuts,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “Within an inning it could be in our favor, and then it’ll be against us.”It’s clear the Tigers’ hits will be sailing in any and every direction, but the question remains if they will leave the park. The tentative answer is yes – Ohio State and LSU combined for six home runs in nine games over the weekend. Sam Houston State added one in extra innings against the Tigers.”Ohio State brings the big hitters — big girls, big hitters,” Girouard said.Freshman shortstop Juliana Santos and freshman second baseman Ashley Langoni knocked LSU’s first homers in the new park on the way to two separate wins against Texas A&M. The runs had to come as a relief to Girouard, who had seen several fly balls fall short of the outfield walls, which were supposed to be closer to the plate.”I don’t think the park is as small as we wanted it to be at first,” Girouard said. “The fence is shorter, but it didn’t come in as much as we intended the fence to come in.”Santos and Langoni took advantage of the shorter fences with their home runs over the weekend.”The fences are a little shorter than our other field,” Santos said. “It’s going to depend on the weather, but that’s definitely an advantage.”With the Tigers’ pitching staff still hindered by injury, it remains to be seen how the new park will play into LSU’s defense. Four separate players have pitched for LSU since Tiger Park opened, and the Tigers have given up just one home run.When asked whether the new stadium was a pitcher’s or batter’s park, freshman pitcher Brittany Mack replied, “Pitchers.””Everyone is a great hitter, but it all depends on if a pitcher knows a batter can learn to stay away from it,” Mack said. “I never think about [the wind]. I put all factors aside and put it one pitch at a time.”Contact David Helman [email protected]