The No. 7 LSU softball team returns to Tiger Park to host the LSU Invitational facing Stanford, Michigan, Memphis and Cal State Northridge.
The Tigers wrapped up their weekend in Clearwater, Fla. coming home with three wins, two over top-ranked teams, and two losses. LSU went to Florida with a six game winning streak, but that was ended by Oregon and Florida State. Despite the losses, LSU stayed in the Top-10 pulling a No. 7 ranking to motivate them in their next set of games.
“It was really nice to see us get out there and compete with teams that are really up in the national rankings,” assistant coach Howard Dobson said. “It was nice to compete against quality teams and see where we are, see what we need to work on. It was nice to get out there and get after them.”
LSU will first face Stanford in the upcoming Invitational. Stanford currently holds a 6-2 record compared to LSU’s 9-2 record. LSU vs Stanford is 3-3 in series of their games. Stanford had a successful opening weekend with six home runs to motivate them into their season. Stanford was also ranked No. 8 in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll.
“Our Monday practice is definitely a challenge,” freshman pitcher Shelby Wickersham said. “We’re working on what could we have done better to make the game go more smoothly, whether we win or we lose. There’s always things we can work on and improve every game no matter the outcome.”
“As the week goes on it’s going to get easier because we’re going to start fine tuning, but Monday is an important day for us to really work on what we need to do to focus to get better and get to that next level.”
LSU will then face Memphis Friday afternoon and Michigan Friday night. Memphis holds a 5-4 record, but have yet to have a home game. They have been traveling since their season opener and haven’t excelled like LSU has. LSU leads Memphis in their series undefeated by 5-0.
Michigan, the only team LSU will face twice this weekend, is 4-5 on the season and doesn’t seem like much competition for the Tigers either. However, Michigan is being led by their winningest coach and has beaten the Tigers before. LSU also leads in this series 7-2.
“[Michigan] is a great challenge for us,” Wickersham said. “I think going into the game we’re gonna work hard. Every team is a challenge and no team should be taken lightly, so I think one of our focuses this year is going into every game with the same mindset.”
LSU will also take on CSUN who has a 3-5 record. CSUN’s opener wasn’t as strong as they would have wanted, but their next invitational started with a sweep in day one. The invitational was left unfinished due to weather conditions and plans to be replayed later in the season. LSU leads this series as well by 2-0.
“The attitude was still the same [at practice],” sophomore pitcher Shelbi Sunseri said. “I don’t think we’re letting that loss hurt us or hinder us at all. I think it was a learning experience for sure. It just kind of shows us what we really need to work on and I think that’s exactly what we’re doing. We’re just getting back to work and working toward the National Championship.”
The Tigers will begin the LSU Invitational Thursday, Feb. 21 versus Stanford in Tiger Park.
“It’s not all about outcome, especially in February,” Dobson said. “If you keep doing the process, keep working the cut, pretty soon that cut start to open up and you’re back where you need to be. It’s not as much pressure, but us trying to be the best version of ourselves.”