The LSU softball team is hoping the third time will be the charm.
In only their fifth Southeastern Conference series of the season, the Tigers (22-12, 8-8) are facing top five competition tonight for the third time when No. 1 Alabama (37-2, 12-1) comes to town today.
“We’ll have to really perform well,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “This is a really good Alabama team coming in.”
LSU’s first two stints against elite competition didn’t go as planned. The Tigers opened SEC play by dropping consecutive games to then-No. 2 Florida.
They followed that up with a trip to, then-No. 1, Georgia, where they were outscored by a total of 26-3 in a weekend sweep.
“We started off with the two top teams, so it was a rough loss,” said junior left fielder Ashley Langoni. “It kind of put us in a slump.”
Since then, however, the Tigers have won two SEC series and are on a seven-game tear. After dropping a Friday night opener to then-No. 24 Kentucky, LSU is on a seven-game win streak and has outscored its opponents, 41-3.
“I feel better about our two, three, four, five hitters than I did a month ago — they weren’t producing at all,” Girouard said.
“We have a chance with them right now to score some runs.”
And LSU will need all the runs it can muster against the Crimson Tide pitching staff. Alabama only utilizes two regular starters, but those two are all they need. Senior Kelsi Dunne (18-1) lost her only game of the season, 1-0, to No. 19 Louisiana-Lafayette, and she sports a 1.09 ERA. Her counterpart, freshman Jackie Traina (14-1) is right behind her at 1.24.
“We’ll have to execute offensively because this is the best pitching staff Alabama has had in a long time,” Girouard said.
The Tigers’ pitching staff will look to counter after bouncing out a slump of their own. Since dropping to 5-7 in a 12-0 shelling against Georgia, sophomore pitcher Rachele Fico has bounced back to go 3-1 in the last three weeks.
After blanking Nicholls in four innings Wednesday, Fico has pitched 20 scoreless innings.
“Hopefully we have a little bit more confidence right now,” Girouard said. “We’ll have to keep the ball in the ballpark because they can hit it out.”