It might still feel like winter outside, but the spring season will officially begin today for the No. 18 LSU softball team.The Tigers will kick off the season today at the Time Warner Invitational in Austin, Texas, with a doubleheader against No. 19 North Carolina at noon and No. 21 DePaul at 2:30 p.m.LSU will face Texas on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and will begin bracket play at 3:30 p.m. The tournament championship will be Sunday.”The start is a very aggressive start in Austin,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “We believe we have the team to compete with anyone that is on our schedule.” The tournament will feature four of the 50 players who were named to the 2010 USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List — LSU senior center fielder Kirsten Shortridge, LSU senior right fielder Rachel Mitchell, North Carolina senior pitcher Danielle Spaulding and DePaul senior pitcher Becca Heteniak.Freshman pitcher Rachele Fico will earn her first collegiate start for the Tigers against the Tar Heels. The highly touted freshman ended her high school career with a national high school record 26 perfect games.”She’s definitely stepping up as a freshman, and everyone respects her,” said LSU sophomore pitcher Brittany Mack.The Tigers will try to rebound from a disappointing two-game skid which ended the 2009 season against Arizona State in the NCAA Tempe Regional Tournament.Shortridge and Mitchell led the Tigers in most offensive categories in 2009.Mitchell, who led the Tigers with 11 doubles and 38 RBIs, was drafted by the Chicago Bandits with the 15th pick in Wednesday’s National Pro Fastpitch College Senior Draft.Shortridge was named to the 2009 Easton All-American Second Team after leading LSU in batting average (.426), hits (80) and stolen bases (26).North Carolina’s 2009 campaign ended in the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional Tournament after the Tar Heels lost two games to Georgia.But Spaulding proved to be one of the best pitchers in the country and is a two-time Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year.Spaulding led the nation in strikeouts per seven innings in 2009, averaging 14.3 strikeouts every seven frames.”I’m sure we’re going to get everybody’s best shot and best pitcher because we’re the          highest-ranked team in this tournament,” Girouard said. DePaul ended its 2009 season after losses to Bradley and Missouri in the NCAA Columbia Regional Tournament.Heteniak led the Blue Demons in pitching with a record of 26-9 and pitched 252 strikeouts, which ranked No. 30 in the nation. The two-time All-American and two-time Big East Pitcher of the Year also led the Blue Demons with 12 home runs.Texas lost to Alabama twice in the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional Tournament to end its 2009 season.The Longhorns’ roster features senior infielder Loryn  Johnson, who led Texas in batting average (.403), hits (73), doubles (14) and RBIs (50).This marks the second consecutive year LSU has started the season on the road. The Tigers traveled to Honolulu, to compete in the Paradise Classic  last season and won three of five games in the tournament. “We are ready to go out and prove ourselves right off the bat,” said LSU sophomore infielder Juliana Santos. “We’re not as timid as we were last year.”____Contact Jarred LeBlanc at [email protected]