Payton Prichard
LSU softball redshirt freshman utility Tori Edwards (42) throws the ball after tagging a Kentucky player out at first base during LSU's 4-1 win over Kentucky on Friday, March 14, 2025, at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge, La.
Softball and baseball are similar on the surface, but there is a whole other world that makes winning more difficult in softball than baseball. There are a few key differences in softball that makes winning the SEC regular season title outright more difficult.
An Ace versus a Staff
If LSU’s ace Sydney Berzon can throw every single inning of the season and do it well, there is no reason that she couldn’t do that. There is no pitch requirement for her. There is no mandatory rest, so if it would ever be possible, Berzon could run the game from the circle.
The same could be said about any other team in the SEC and their best pitcher. Many teams have taken this approach before. For example, Montana Fouts at Alabama, or Kelly Barnhill at Florida.
LSU has consistently been known for having duos in the circle; for example Brittani Sneed and Ashley Lewis and Carley Hoover and Allie Walljasper. Berzon and freshman Jayden Heavener are no exception to this trend, but if it calls for one pitcher needing to take over for the other, softball allows for this.
Baseball, on the other hand, requires a staff, a large staff, to be successful. This is one of the main reasons that sweeping in baseball is more difficult, and why the softball SEC tournament is a single elimination tournament.
Strike Zone Differences
The argument still stands about seeing a pitcher more. If a team sees a pitcher, surely they would be able to figure her out, but several pitchers have shown that they are simply that good.
But that doesn’t account for how the umpires have impacted the game.
Technically, by rule, the strike zones are the same in baseball and softball, but the umpires don’t agree with that sentiment.
The softball strike zone has become so small that pitchers have to throw over the plate. That is why being able to sweep has made winning the SEC so difficult.
Sweeps versus Series Wins
Another big difference between baseball and softball is that if you win most SEC series in baseball, you are a front-runner in the SEC. In softball, you have to sweep to hang with the best.
Sweeps are expected by the teams that win the SEC regular season outright. Winning every series is not enough because an ace can throw every game if they are good enough. Teams have to sweep and sweep several to hang with the best teams in the conference.
So far this season, the Tigers are 5-1 in SEC play. They have begun the path to being successful in winning the SEC outright from most years.
It is to be seen if LSU can continue to keep up with the front-runners in this expanded conference.
Conference Championship isn’t the same as National Championship
Conference champions and national champions are two different things.
Oklahoma softball has set the precedent that winning every game is needed to be the best team in the country, but in reality the diamond sports are the same in this way.
Winning the SEC outright in the regular season is different from winning the national championship. All you need for a chance to win the national championship is a bid to the NCAA tournament, and this comes from playing good ball consistently. Winning every game is nowhere near required.
In baseball, it took years for Tennessee to prove that the No. 1 seed could win the national championship. In softball, it has been a lock for Oklahoma for four straight years.
The differences between softball and baseball are miniscule in play, but the factors that make them different are large differences that change the culture of the game. These changes make winning the SEC arguably harder than in baseball.