When Aliyah Andrews was younger, she imitated everything about her former All-American sister, A.J.
From running the bases to catching out in the field, Aliyah wanted to be as great as her big sister.
“My work ethic wasn’t always there as hers was,” Aliyah said. “She would force me sometimes to go to the field with her, and it paid off obviously, but I needed that push and that drive.”
Aliyah has now found her way at LSU. The freshman outfielder is following in A.J.’s footsteps, but she wants to create a name for herself beyond just “A.J. Andrews’ little sister.”
“They’re very different,” LSU coach Beth Torina said. “Aliyah plays defense a lot like her sister and she covers a lot of ground. She’s fast like her but she’s a completely different type of hitter. She’s a very different type of person. Her personality is just different from A.J., and they’re both awesome and they’re both great in their own right.”
A.J. played four years at LSU from 2011-15. She started every game of her sophomore, junior and senior years, totaling more than 200 starts in her collegiate career.
A.J. was also a second round pick for the Chicago Bandits in the National Pro Fastpitch draft and made history last year as the first woman to be awarded the Rawlings Gold Glove, which is given to the top American League and National League defenders in Major League Baseball each year.
A.J. has had her time at LSU, and she’s now passing the torch for her sister.
“I can’t win any more awards,” A.J. said. “She wants to be better than me, to win more awards than me, and I want her to.”
Aliyah is one of seven freshman newcomers to the team this year.
Through 25 games, she has a .333 batting average, with two stolen bases and a perfect fielding percentage in 19 appearances.
Despite what should be pressure to live up to her sister, Aliyah is taking it all in stride.
“It’s been a little bit of a challenge,” Aliyah said. “Just because I hear her name whenever I’m around but it’s not anything that going to hold me back. I’m just going to show that I’m Aliyah Andrews and be myself.”
If anything, Aliyah is rising to the challenge of becoming even better than her sister, who finished her collegiate career with 97 stolen bases, 179 runs scored and 19 triples.
A.J. has made her fair share of show-stopping catches in center field, including diving into a fence to rob a home run, but the younger sibling seems to be giving her big sister a run for her money.
“I’m in the outfield — catch every ball that comes your way,” Aliyah said. “I just hate the feeling of leaving the field thinking I could have caught that or I should have caught that. So I try to go for anything that comes my way, or else I will feel horrible after that game.”
Both siblings agree that so much of what they do is similar, but A.J. says that while they’re both outfielders and slappers, there’s a recognizable difference in how Aliyah plays. A.J. sees everything that Aliyah does as being so much more natural and simple for her.
“I have heard that I look more athletic or I have more athletic abilities, but just watching my sister sometimes I’m like ‘Really, do you really think that?’” Aliyah said. “It’s great to hear that, and it’s an honor. I just think that she is so athletic and has a great work ethic and is a natural talent — so it’s awesome to hear her say that to me.”
Torina said she fully believes Aliyah can surpass A.J. in the record books.
“I just have to keep working, and I think that a lot of the things that I will do will be a lot that she has done already because she’s accomplished so much, but I just have to keep working at what I’m doing and be myself — but a better version of myself,” Aliyah said.

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Jordan Marcell

LSU freshman outfielder Aliyah Andrews (4) returns to the dug out during the Tigers' 3-0 loss to Minnesota on Saturday, March 4, 2017 at Tiger Park.