The record book and overall thought on the start of SEC play for the Tigers has been average at best. The Tigers will wrap up the month of March with a midweek Baton Rouge matchup against McNeese, a much-needed win, and will likely hold an 11-7 record for the month. There have been highs, taking two of three games against No. 2 Alabama, and the lows of being swept by unranked Texas in Austin. To wrap up the past weekend LSU traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas to face No. 8 Arkansas and managed to win only one game on the trip. With a staunch list of remaining SEC opponents this season it will be good to reflect on this past weekend series and see how it might affect things on the road ahead.
Defense
The Tigers made four-fielding errors during the series, all resulting in runs scored by Arkansas. On the season the Tigers have committed 36 errors and rank 111^th out of 293 D1 softball teams with a .962 fielding percentage. No. 1 ranked in fielding percentage, Florida State, has only committed 12 errors and has a .987 fielding percentage for comparison.
Errors, an unfortunate part of the game, are going to happen especially when moving to a new position. Starting third baseman Danieca Coffey has committed a team high 10 errors so far this season while playing in a new role for the team. Coffey as a freshman saw most her time defensively at second base in 2021, moving across the diamond and starting every game at third has led to increased chances.
You cannot single out one play that effected the outcome of a game, and in the case of Saturday’s series opener the error that Coffey committed was costly. Two runs scored on a throw wide of the base, but three walks were committed during the inning, and Coffey turned a double play three batters before the error was committed. Taylor Pleasants, who is second on the team in errors, committed one of her own an inning after Coffey allowing one run to score. Only five runs were earned during the opener of the weekend, which is maddening when the team would have won without those mistakes.
Both Coffey and Pleasants fielding percentages are nearly identical to what they were last year, and both falling below the team average. If the Tigers want to have a better chance moving forward, Head Coach Beth Torina needs lo lock down fielding drills for the left side of the infield.
Pitching
The Tigers have a 2.43 team ERA so far this season, ranked 32^nd heading into this weekend. Since the Texas series, Ali Kilponen and Shelbi Sunseri’s ERAs have been inflating. Prior to the series Sunseri has a 1.59 ERA and Kilponen a 1.47 ERA. Counting only the Texas series and subsequent games Sunseri has had a 5.13 ERA and Kilponen a 4.2 ERA.
Despite a dominant no-hitter Ali Kilponen threw against Nichols striking out eleven in the process, the duo for the Tigers has looked average at best facing tougher opponents. The Razorbacks and Longhorns rank in the top-30 offensively in regards to batting average, fifth and twenty-ninth respectively. With a matchup against third-ranked Kentucky this weekend it is possible for the shelling to continue.
The problem may lie in their utilization as Kilponen is seeing about 40% of the workload, and Sunseri 30% so far this season. With only four pitchers on the roster, all starters, with significant innings so far this season there needs to be less reliance on the team’s top arms during mid-week games so they are more prepared for weekend series and later in the season.
Ali Kilponen threw 133 pitches in Sunday’s win, and entered the game in the second inning on Monday throwing another 76 pitches. Throwing that much in a limited amount of time must be taxing for a pitcher’s arm, and outside of two outs thrown in the opening game of the series Sunseri and Kilponen saw all the work in the circle against Arkansas.
Both are dominant competitors and ones you want on your roster; this is not a knock on their ability but rather how the coaching staff has been approaching their usage.
Batting
The Tigers rank 53^rd in batting average and 34^th in On Base Percentage in D1 following the Arkansas series. The team scored 17-runs over the series, more than enough to win most games, but with pitching problems and errors gave up 19-runs and lost two games.
Danieca Coffey and Ciara Briggs have been fantastic at the plate this season and lead the team in batting average and on base percentage. The typical top-five of the batting order all have on-base percentages above .385, it’s the bottom half of the order that can struggle at times. Outside of Ali Newland the other three batters in the lineup typically get switched out of the order during the midweek games, to see if there are better bats the Tigers can work into the lineup.
In the process you lose defensive capabilities as Ali Newland and Sydney Peterson have been some of the better fielders this team puts out. Lack of experience may be the largest problem for the team, as the only senior is Shelbi Sunseri.
There will be no off games with the SEC schedule, all teams with the exception of South Carolina have received a top-25 vote so far this season. Kentucky’s strength may be its offense, but their pitching can be exploited. With a team ERA just above 3.00, if the Tiger’s batters are disciplined at the plate like they have showed so far this season there is hope against the No. 8 ranked Wildcats. Last year the Tigers took two of three games in Lexington, let’s hope they can repeat that success and more this upcoming weekend.