The 2025 LSU softball team is on a tear halfway through the season, but they have hit a rough patch recently. This Tigers team emulates the 2023 LSU baseball team in several ways.
Offense
The 2023 LSU baseball team was known for hot offense, and so far, through the 2025 softball season, the Tigers have shown similar offensive prowess.
LSU’s batting average as a team is .362, and the 2023 baseball team finished with a .308 batting average. A .54 differential while softball still has four weeks of the regular season is impressive. SEC play typically brings a team’s batting average down significantly more than it has.
If the stats don’t speak for themselves, the lineup format does.
Announcers have deemed catcher Maci Bergeron and first baseman Tori Edwards the “Smash Sisters” due to the difficulty of pitching to them in the three and four spots in the lineup. This sentiment is similar to the stats between Dylan Crews and Tommy White during the 2023 season.
During the 2023 season, White batted .684 when Crews was on base and .236 when he wasn’t. Pitching to Bergeron and Edwards is similar; the difficulty of throwing to one, knowing you must face the other, is a pitcher’s worst nightmare.
They are both batting over .400, totaling 23 of the team’s 35 home runs, and Crews and White accumulated 42 of 76 home runs as a team in 2023. The comparison isn’t far off.
The 2023 Tigers baseball lineup has changed as much as softballs throughout 2025. Different players have moved up and down to where they have given the most production, and some entire players have also come in and out of the lineup.
Like baseball’s Cade Beloso throughout the 2023 season, several players have come in and out of the lineup due to what they’ve provided for the team. Savanna Bedell has had a hot streak for the purple and gold, and Maddox McKee has made herself a permanent fixture in the lineup lately after seeing her fair share of the dugout.
The offense is not the only way the LSU softball stacks up to the successful 2023 baseball team.
Defense
LSU’s defense has struggled throughout the 2025 season. There have been SportsCenter Top 10 plays for each player on the field, and then there are moments when routine plays have resulted in disaster.
The same goes for the 2023 baseball team. The 2023 LSU baseball team could outhit the runs they gave up, and eventually, SEC pitching proved more challenging. The upperclassmen had to have an intervention with the team about cleaning things up because they all wanted to be the 2023 College World Series Champions.
After a tough weekend at Texas A&M, the softball Tigers may have to do some realigning in the dugout like the 2023 baseball team had to do.
Culture
The baseball Tigers’ veteran status led to strong bonds in the dugout, and the youth of the 2025 softball team has had the same effect. The 2023 baseball team grew through the LSU program together, and the 2025 softball team has bonded on the field as one of the youngest starting teams in the nation.
The players’ youth has led to some immature moments, but the youth has also led to some outstanding moments for this team. This team has mercy-ruled 14 teams this season, two in SEC play.
Mercy ruling teams is an act of youth. There is no complacency within the 2025 softball roster. When one player has a clutch moment, it spreads like wildfire. A more veteran team is more likely to be content with a win, despite what the run differential might be.
Young athletes aren’t the only players who swing at bad pitches in big moments or make careless and costly errors. As shown by the 2023 LSU baseball team, the mistakes on the field can still be found in the upperclassmen.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, LSU center fielder Dylan Crews batted .426 and reached base safely in each game that season, but he still struck out swinging at pitches over his head in a big moment. Crews had a chance to give LSU the lead in the semifinal game against Wake Forest, which would’ve ended the game after regulation innings.
Sometimes, youth isn’t the nail in a team’s coffin. Even the most experienced players can have challenging moments.
These two teams’ similarities should calm avid Tiger softball fans in distress. Softball is not a game where winning every game is necessary; teams can be successful while facing and overcoming adversity.
LSU softball can still make one of its best runs since 2017 despite its age, adversity and who it faces. Both of these teams have proven to be scrappy, and trying to win the national title will take scrappiness and overcoming adversity.
The Tigers softball team will rise to the occasion or fall. Their similarities to the most recent LSU diamond sport national champions should allow fans to take a step back and breathe when needed.
