The LSU softball team’s 2016 season was full of ups and downs.
But ultimately the group didn’t take the next step, after being eliminated in the Women’s College World Series for the second straight season.
The Tigers’ (52-18) season ended as they could not overcome issues which plagued them earlier in the year – defensive errors and lack of clutch hits.
LSU finished the year with a .958 fielding clip, No. 158 of the 290 teams in Division I. Despite the defensive issues, the squad started the season 22-2, and its fielding errors only cost them one game.
Until they battled with Alabama.
In a mid-March clash with the Crimson Tide, the Tigers committed a season-high six errors and fell 10-3. After that contest, LSU coach Beth Torina said the issues were mental. Essentially, the team was focusing too much on the mistakes. The errors went down, but another weakness soon formed.
The Tigers set nearly every offensive program record for a game in a 30-8 rout of Louisiana Tech on March 15. But then the team’s bats went uncharacteristically quiet for the next month.
During the stretch, LSU went 3-10 in conference play and averaged only 2.5 runs per game.
However, the Tigers’ play improved, and they finished the regular season 12-1. LSU then made a run for the Southeastern Conference Tournament Final, defeating three ranked teams in three days but fell to Auburn, 7-1, in the championship game.
After breezing through its Regional, LSU hit a snag in the form of James Madison, who won Game 1 of the Super Regional. The Tigers claimed the series’ final two contests to advance to the WCWS for the fifth time in program history, but then old demons returned.
In the team’s WCWS opener against Michigan, LSU left six players on base and managed four hits throughout the contest. Against Oklahoma, the Tigers’ defense committed four errors and could not overcome the Sooners’ consistent offense, which plated runs in four of the seven frames.
The season’s end signals the close of three Tigers’ illustrious careers. Senior infielders Bianka Bell, Kellsi Kloss and Sandra Simmons all have ended the LSU chapter of their softball careers.
Bell leaves as one of the program’s deadliest hitters and currently boasts the most home runs and RBIs in team history. Kloss is a solid hitter in her own right, concluding her time as the third best home run hitter to wear an LSU uniform. Simmons finishes as an elite fielder and was named to the All-SEC defensive team during her career.
Despite the losses, LSU’s future looks bright. The team returns its entire outfield, its top three pitchers and three of the five starting infielders.
Sophomore hurlers Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper took the bulk of the pitching duties, but as the season wore on, freshman Sydney Smith inserted herself into the starting rotation.
Junior utility Sahvanna Jaquish headlines the 2017 senior class alongside infielder Constance Quinn and outfielder Bailey Landry. Jaquish is second in team history behind Bell in both home runs and RBIs and will likely overtake Bell in both categories. Landry and Quinn have proved to be reliable bats and fielders looking to boost the team in their final year.
Freshman infielder Amber Serrett and freshman utility Elyse Thornhill both made impacts in their rookie seasons. Serrett became an everyday starter, primarily at shortstop, while Thornhill ended the season as the starting left fielder.
The big question is who will take over at third base and catcher or first. Kloss, catcher, and Bell, third base, will need to be replaced in the field.
Jaquish, who split time between catcher and first base, will likely move behind the plate leaving first base unoccupied. A couple names likely to fill those gaps are freshman Shemiah Sanchez and sophomore Sydney Bourg.
Sanchez batted .276 and appeared in 19 games and started 9. Bourg, batted 222 from the plate started 13 contests, while participating in 25 games.
The 2016 season did not have the ending the Tigers envisioned at the start of the season. But with their group of returning players, they are poised for another run at a national title.