What LSU softball needs to focus on entering SEC play

As SEC play looms on LSU’s horizon, this young Tigers team needs to do several things to remain as elite as it was during non-conference play.

LSU has been explosive this season and played clean defense behind a strong pitching staff. Here is what they need to focus on to stay afloat during SEC play:
Mindset, Mindset, Mindset

The Tigers’ explosive offense so far this season has been primarily due to their mindset at the plate. Redshirt freshman Tori Edwards said that former hitting coach Howard Dobson worked hard to perfect the team’s mechanics while being gritty, while current coach Bryce Neal has focused on each athlete’s approach at the plate.

Tackling each player’s technique individually has worked. LSU has scored multiple runs this season, with 22 games won by multiple runs.

Staying humble and playing with a clean slated mind is necessary for the Tigers in SEC play. After beating UCLA 2-1 in the Judi Garman Classic, this young team rested on their laurels, falling to Cal State Fullerton 6-5, and had a slow start in their 2-0 victory against Utah.

If this team wants to stay in the lead in the SEC, it will have to forget everything that happened in the game before, good or bad. Resting on its laurels or playing upsets will never give the Tigers the result they are aiming for.

Fifth-year senior Danieca Coffey said the mindset is the most significant part of playing Division 1 softball, especially in the SEC.

“I feel like [softball is] mental more so than physical,” Coffey said. “Anybody, if you played softball all your life, you can compete physically. It’s more mentally being able to stay in the same spot. The first weekend, you’re so excited, so you’re locked in, and you’re so zoned into what you want to accomplish. But like in Week 6, Week 8, you still have to have that same mindset that you had on week one, to be zoned and locked in on certain pictures.”

Coffey said she’s been known as a singles hitter, but she wanted more for herself this season. This mindset has allowed her to further her title as one of the best table-setters in the country.

Coffey was outstanding at getting on base for big bats like Taylor Pleasants and Georgia Clark. Now, she’s putting herself in scoring position and even batting herself in twice.

The rest of this young Tigers team is getting themselves in scoring position, from extra-base hits to turning their singles into doubles by stolen bases or making the other team make careless errors.

LSU needs to play their game with confidence, but remember to stay hungry and play their game.
Keep the momentum

The Tigers are 24-1 entering SEC play. While this team must focus on staying humble, it must continue playing its game. A big theme for this team has been to play its game and write its story.

So far, LSU’s story of the season has been offense and wheels. They’ve hunted their pitch and turned singles into doubles with their speed. Head coach Beth Torina said the focus with this team has been to be all gas, from running a hard 60 to applying pressure in all situations.

Playing to their strengths and hunting moments they can capitalize on will be crucial to this team’s gaining momentum when it inevitably falters.

“Everyone’s just finding ways to take the next base, so if it’s taking an extra base when no one’s paying attention, and just different reads at the plate,” Edwards said. “I think there’s just a passion and there’s a fiery energy that we get from our speed. Not putting pressure on us, but just giving us what we need to improve on.”

The 2024 Tigers wanted to be “dealt in” to the postseason madness and achieved their goal. The 2025 team needs to continue to write their story, which means dethroning the all-time SEC greats and tough newcomers Oklahoma and Texas.
Don’t crack under pressure

The SEC is no joke for any sport. The season’s most significant moments will begin when the first pitch against Kentucky is thrown, so LSU needs to keep doing what it does best: applying pressure.

The SEC is one big conference of pressure. Every team is so good that the playing field is always equal, so when the pressure is on because the other team is playing in a similar style to the Tigers, they must stay strong.

There hasn’t been much power coming from the other teams’ bats this season because of how dominant the pitching staff has been. Hits have been a minimum for different teams, and most baserunners came from walks or the seldom errors.

This team needs to stay focused when strong teams string together extra-base hits. This deep pitching staff has proven to keep strong against tough opponents, but offense is the name of the game in the SEC. Dominant pitching helps, but if you can’t hit, you can’t hang.

LSU is full of underclassmen and newcomers. They must stay headstrong despite the excess pressure of the SEC’s competitiveness.
Stay resilient

Everything needs to continue to come together for the Tigers. They’ve gotten more potent and cohesive as the season has gone on, but their test of resilience has been slim so far.

LSU has only lost one game so far this season, so they haven’t had time to show their resilience game in and game out. There haven’t been many games where the Tigers have come from behind and won. The Titans came from behind in the one game LSU dropped to take the win.

Gaining and keeping momentum is excellent if it can be done, but the Tigers are bound to slip up in a game of failure. How LSU reacts to its failure will show how it will respond in the long run.

Torina has mentioned needing to toughen a primarily young team through non-conference play. Coffey also said they have focused on the finish line this season. The best coaches say it’s not how you start but how you finish. Torina and her staff might be planting a seed for the future.

Looking at the loss column and learning something from it will benefit the Tigers’ subsequent performance. Losing game one of a series and winning games two and three is more realistic for LSU in the postseason, but getting upset and giving up will not allow that to happen.

What Coffey said about staying locked in as the season gets deeper is undoubtedly true. They must put everything together and come back stronger each time they fall.

For many Tigers, this is the first SEC game they will see on the field consistently; they will be scouted, coaches will worry about them, and their names will be circled on the whiteboard.

How they handle the pressure will be a testament to the postseason. Sure, the team can drag through SEC play and try to make a big run in the SEC and NCAA tournaments, but the strongest teams in the postseason are playing in their conference.

It is too early to call how LSU’s SEC play will go, but they start tonight at Tiger Park against Kentucky in game one of a three-game series.