At a university where nearly every athletic program is nationally relevant, there’s never a shortage of options. There are always electric playmakers to be found.
The Reveille Athlete of the Week is LSU softball first baseman Tori Edwards.
Even as the Tigers dropped their second series of the season to Texas A&M on Saturday, Edwards was a thorn in the Aggies’ side throughout Game 2. This redshirt freshman has hit 15 home runs so far in the 2025 season, and four of them are grand slams.
Edwards belted her fourth grand slam of the season with her home run in the third inning against A&M on Saturday. Her clutch hit came in a time of need, the Tigers were trailing 7-1 when she cut the lead down to two runs.
LSU ended up losing the contest 9-7, but Edwards’ four RBI were pivotal in the small run differential.
Through two games of the Texas A&M series, Edwards proved why she is one half of the “Smash Sisters,” as deemed by the announcers. She bats behind catcher Maci Bergeron, and when one is struggling, the other always comes through for the rest of the lineup.
In game one, Bergeron was 0-3 at the plate, and Edwards came behind her going 2-4 with two doubles to kickstart the Tigers’ electric offense. Despite not having an RBI in Game 1, Edwards was two of the seven runs LSU scored.
During the previous success of LSU this season, Bergeron and Edwards have both handled hot bats. Her success with the bases empty has been significant for the comeback the Tigers made in the A&M series.
Edwards’ success throughout the stiff competition of the SEC was not a shock to head coach Beth Torina. She has given her high praise all season for her work ethic and the reward she has gotten for it.
“[Edwards is] a great representation of the program,” Torina said earlier in the season. “It’s nice to see somebody like that have success, that has just worked so hard. She was here all day, on the off day, just working. She’s studying film, she’s being prepared like she has elite talent, but she also has elite work ethic and elite understanding of the game.”
Although she is a redshirt freshman, these stellar numbers she has put up so far haven’t been a fluke. She’s consistently getting the best of opponents pitching.
The stats Edwards is putting up without runners on base shows how significant she is going to be in creating a deep playoff run for the Tigers.
So far this season, she is hitting .434 to match her 15 home runs and four grand slams. She has 61 RBI, 16 of which are from her grand slams.
She will try to continue her offensive hot streak along with the other Tigers as they take on No. 1 Texas on April 18 at 4:30 p.m. for Game 1 of the series.
