Teams with national rankings next to their names appear to be a difficult obstacle to overcome for the No. 20 LSU softball team.
LSU (12-5) fell to No. 3 Arizona and No. 14 California but defeated Fordham and Cal Poly at the Cathedral City Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. The Tigers are 0-3 against ranked opponents this season.
“Our team is struggling defensively and offensively,” freshman third baseman Tammy Wray said. “But we’re staying on the small things and hoping we can clean ourselves up and come out how we should.”
LSU coach Yvette Girouard said injuries keep holding back the Tigers from reaching their potential.
Senior third baseman Jessica Mouse and senior outfielder Ashley Applegate remain out of the lineup, and junior first baseman Anissa Young struggled with cramps all weekend.
“I feel like we could have a really special team if we had all the parts to the puzzle,” Girouard said. “We get one back, and we lose somebody else. It’s been pretty frustrating. We’re surviving right now, period.”
Girouard said she doesn’t know when she can expect Mouse and Applegate to be able to return to the lineup.
“I was hoping [they would be back] by now, and they’re not in our lineup yet,” Girouard said. “I’m pretty concerned.”
Mouse’s injury has given Wray a spot in the starting lineup where she has found success at the plate.
Wray totaled seven RBIs this weekend, including a game-tying RBI in the seventh inning to propel LSU’s comeback victory yesterday against Cal Poly in its final game of the tournament.
“Going into this tournament, we obviously started off rough,” Wray said. “But that was definitely something that we needed for ourselves and as a confidence booster.”
The LSU defense had trouble keeping zeroes out of the error column. The Tigers combined for 12 errors on the weekend, including five in an 11-3 loss to Cal.
“It’s not like the balls are going through anybody’s legs,” Girouard said. “It’s just a lack of communication with some inexperience and people being juggled around and not making plays.”
The Tigers opened the tournament Friday with a 4-1 loss to Arizona.
The Wildcats tagged junior pitcher Brittany Mack for four runs in 1 1/3 innings, but sophomore pitcher Rachele Fico’s nine strikeout performance in relief gave Girouard a positive spin on the defeat.
“I thought we played really well against Arizona,” Girouard said. “We had some opportunities to score. I thought we gave them as good a game as anyone out here.”
LSU bounced back from their loss Saturday to Cal with a 6-2 defeat of Fordham in which Young, Wray and junior outfielder Ashley Langoni belted back-to-back-to-back homeruns.
“I was very concerned about that game being an overlooked game,” Girouard said. “But we hit three home runs back to back and we survived that one.”
 
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Contact Hunter Paniagua at [email protected]