The No. 13 LSU softball team’s Southeastern Conference results can be described in a single word – underwhelming.
After starting SEC play 5-11, the Tigers (40-13, 13-11 SEC) won their final eight league games to close out the conference season. The team’s recent successes elevated it from the bottom of the standings to as high as a sixth place finish, depending on how the rest of the proverbial dominos fall.
A mid-table finish in the SEC, which features nine ranked teams, is a decent result for most squads, but LSU was tabbed as a the second best team in the league, behind No. 1 Florida, according to a preseason SEC coaches poll.
“I don’t know if it really matters,” said LSU coach Beth Torina on her team’s finish in conference play. “Would we like to have won the conference? Yes, that is a goal of this program every year. But there has been a National Champion that’s finished in the middle of the pack in the SEC. It’s not necessarily about how you’ve played all season long. It’s about how you play in the months of May and June.”
Torina’s squad will have the opportunity to finish the season on a high note with a non-conference series against No. 11 Washington to close out the regular season. The three-game set will begin with a doubleheader at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday in Tiger Park.
The Huskies (32-11, 13-8 Pac-12 Conference) are the fourth ranked opponent to clash with the Tigers at home. This season, LSU is 2-7 in those contests and was swept by Florida and then-No. 16 Kentucky.
“We have to realize we have nothing to lose,” said sophomore outfielder Emily Griggs. “Being in an out of conference series, it’s something we can just gain from. Whether it’s seeing more pitches or gaining confidence.”
Despite their SEC struggles, the Tigers have been dominant out of league play, in 2016. They have won 23 straight and are 27-2 against non-conference foes this season. Both losses came in the opening week of the campaign.
LSU’s bullpen has the sixth best ERA in Division I with a 1.85, and has a dominant weekend trio of sophomores Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper and freshman Sydney Smith.
The rookie hurler boasts the nation’s best ERA with a 0.60 and has allowed only six earned runs in 70 innings thrown.
Hoover and Walljasper serves as the team’s two top gunslingers in the rotation. Hoover mows down hitters and has notched 169 strikeouts, while Walljasper typically throws for precision and forces batters to ground or fly out.
Whichever Tiger is in the circle this weekend, she’ll have to be on top of her game because of a deadly Husky lineup.
“They haven’t been shutout once this year, so they are going to score runs,” Hoover said. “They are going to be powerful and swing big and be aggressive. It’s going to be our job as a bullpen to neutralize that.”
Washington is hitting .340 at the plate, the ninth best average in Division I. The batting order features six starters with at least a .350 average. But the Husky’s most impactful hitter may be the player with the fifth best batting average – junior infielder Ali Aguilar.
The Orangevale, California native has the Washington team-high in runs scored with 20, RBIs with 57 and home runs with 20 – tied for second most in the nation. She’s hitting a .364 from behind the plate and maintaining a slugging percentage of .894.
“She’s really good. Their entire lineup is really good,” Torina said. “They are extremely athletic, extremely talented. They can hit the long ball. … They will bring a huge challenge to us.”
Griggs said the goal of the weekend, other than winning the series, is to avoid looking ahead and preparing themselves heading into postseason play.
“We are focusing on us,” Griggs said. “We’re not focused or worried about who we are going to play [in the postseason]. We are focusing on playing LSU softball and doing the same things we’ve done all season and being better.”
