No. 11 LSU softball will face Central Arkansas in its season opener at 6 p.m. in Tiger Park on Thursday.
During the ensuing weekend, the Tigers will host the Tiger Classic tournament and face No. 13 Oklahoma State and Florida A&M.
Senior outfielder Aliyah Andrews was recently named to the watch list of the 2020 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award. Andrews was also awarded a spot on the Preseason All-SEC team, along with junior pitcher/utility Shelbi Sunseri.
Andrews stole 47 bases last season, breaking the school’s single-season record. She finished the 2019 campaign with a .358 batting average after scoring a team-leading 61 runs. A member of the SEC’s All-Defensive Team, the center-fielder finished 2019 with a .980 fielding percentage.
Sunseri was a 2019 NFCA Second Team All-American. Her five saves tied the program’s single-season record. She pitched five shutouts and ended the season with a 2.34 ERA.
Sunseri also impressed in the batter’s box. She opened the season with a 30-game on-base streak and closed it with a .340 batting average. The pitcher collected a team-high 60 RBI and 17 home runs on 54 hits.
The Tigers are ranked 11th in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll and in the USA Today/NFCA DI Coaches poll, joining nine other SEC programs in the rankings. LSU has been ranked each week the poll has been held since the end of the 2014 season.
The Tigers add seven freshmen and return 16 players from the 2019 team, which compiled a 43-19 record.
“Our expectations are always the same,” Coach Beth Torina said at media day. “We want to be the best team in the country. The expectations are not any less for this group, nor will they ever be for any group that we put on the field at Tiger Park.”