Five seasons ago the LSU softball team fell one game short of its first trip to the Women’s College World Series.
The only thing between the Tigers and Oklahoma City was a 1-0 loss in the final game of the 2000 Baton Rouge NCAA Regional to an upbeat and powerful Southern Mississippi ballclub.
USM was 63-13 in 2000 and poised to make its second consecutive trip to the WCWS.
“I know for us older [players] the rivalry against USM — from the days back — is what I thrive on,” said Tigers second baseman Sara Fitzgerald. “USM stopped this team from going to the College World Series two years in a row, and the younger ones don’t remember that. But we try to remind them of things like that whenever we can.”
Fast-forward five years and the scene is much different.
LSU now ranks among the upper echelon of softball programs while USM is struggling to find its identity.
Today LSU will attempt to keep USM from locating that identity as the two meet at the USM Softball Complex at 6 p.m.
“That is kind of past history,” said coach Yvette Girouard about the LSU-USM rivalry.
Since the 2000 season, the Golden Eagles have not returned to the WCWS and have had back-to-back losing seasons. Girouard said maintaining a solid program relies heavily on keeping strong pitchers on staff.
“I think it shows how much influence the person in the circle has on fastpitch softball,” Girouard said. “If a pitcher can get hot at the right time, then a pitcher and two hitters can lead a team to a College World Series, and Courtney Blades took that team to the College World Series two years in a row.”
Tonight’s meeting will be the third between the two teams this season. LSU won both games at the Purple and Gold Challenge at Tiger Park by a combined score of 32-3.
Fitzgerald said the prior two victories over USM this season should not cause the Tigers to lose focus Wednesday night.
“You have to approach every team the same way,” Fitzgerald said. “You have to approach everyone like they’re the Washingtons [Huskies]. I mean, yeah we pretty much demolished them the last two times we played them, but we just have to continue to do that.” Senior third baseman Julie Wiese said hitters may benefit the most from the multiple meetings with USM.
“We have seen their pitchers, so we can look back on the scouting reports and make the necessary adjustments,” Wiese said.
USM (11-12) is led by senior outfielder Heather Bell. Bell leads the team in most offensive categories, including runs (15), batting average (.372) and on-base percentage (.674).
“They [USM] try to create havoc for you offensively,” Girouard said. “They’re going to run. They’re going to hit and run. They’re going to steal. They have to do those things because unfortunately for them, they don’t have enough pitching to stop anybody. So, they have to score a bunch of runs.” Girouard said.
Senior right-hander Jessica Holaway anchors the Golden Eagles staff that enters the game with a combined 5.16 ERA, while giving up 22 home runs in 23 games.
USM enters the game riding a five-game winning streak.