It would be hard to blame the LSU softball team for looking ahead to this weekend’s Cathedral City Classic.
The No. 20 Tigers (9-3) turned in a disappointing 2-3 performance during their first road trip this past weekend, and starting Friday they’ll be in Palm Springs, Calif., to face the likes of No. 3 Arizona and No. 14 California.
“We have a tough schedule in California, so obviously there are times when you’re going to look at that and be taken aback by it,” said freshman infielder Tammy Wray.
But before LSU can face off with the sport’s super powers, there’s one minor blip on the radar. The Tigers host in-state rival McNeese State (2-8) today at 6 p.m. at Tiger Park.
“I don’t know if we can look past anybody after losing three games this weekend,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “I think everybody’s not happy with that — everybody knows we can do much better.”
McNeese has been a thorn in LSU’s side in recent seasons, snatching wins against the Tigers in each of the past two years — although LSU shut out the Cowgirls, 6-0, in last season’s NCAA regionals.
Few people have more to be disappointed about from the Tigers’ three-loss weekend than sophomore pitcher Rachele Fico. She lost three games in three days, including a 1-0 loss to Houston in extra innings, despite limiting the Cougars to just one hit.
“The second Houston game, we were pitching a no-hitter going into the tiebreaker,” Girouard said. “You can’t ask your pitcher to do too much more.”
Fico took another loss against Houston earlier in the weekend — also during extra innings. She gave up a mere two hits to the Cougars but picked up losses in both outings.
Fico said despite the lackluster results, the Tigers need to look forward.
“We just really need to put it behind us,” Fico said. “We have a very big week coming up starting with McNeese, and we cannot take them lightly.”
McNeese State is two weeks into its season but has yet to play a home game. Tonight’s game against LSU is its first game in the state of Louisiana.
 
 
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Contact David Helman at [email protected]