The LSU softball team’s schedule isn’t getting any easier, even when it’s not against Southeastern Conference competition.The No. 20 Tigers (14-5, 2-1) travel to No. 8 Georgia this weekend, but they must first deal with Baylor (18-9) tonight at Tiger Park. The Bears are the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association’s leading choice to enter the Top 25 despite a current five-game losing streak.”They have a reputation of speed and the short game, and they’ve had some good pitchers in the past,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “[Baylor freshman pitcher Whitney Canion] is a lefty who throws hard, and I don’t know that we’ve seen that yet. It’ll be a different look for us.”Girouard said the Tigers will once again operate with a “makeshift” lineup. Freshman infielder Ashley Langoni injured her hand Saturday against Kentucky and will miss her second consecutive game.The Bears serve as LSU’s last non-conference game before a brutal SEC stretch that features back-to-back series against the nation’s No. 2 and No. 8 teams in Alabama and Georgia, respectively.The Tigers will once again host a homecoming celebration after welcoming back a slew of old faces to the grand opening of the new Tiger Park.    Baylor coach and former LSU coach Glenn Moore makes a return to Baton Rouge after compiling a 117-25 record with the Tigers. Moore led LSU to SEC championships in 1999 and 2000, amassing a 53-7 conference record.”They have a very good team and a very good pitcher,” Girouard said. “They’ve got some kids from the Baton Rouge area — obviously Glenn Moore has some huge connections to LSU.”Moore is bringing a piece of LSU softball history back with him. Britni Sneed Newman, who serves as Baylor’s pitching coach, pitched for LSU under Moore. She was inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, becoming the first softball player to join the elite club.”We have a ton of respect for Britni and what she did for this program,” Girouard said. “She put it on the College World Series map … She is a favorite daughter of LSU softball.”Sneed Newman totaled a 120-25 record with a 0.89 ERA while at LSU. She was named the 2002 SEC Player of the Year, and she left LSU with school and conference records for single-season strikeouts.Baylor’s visit will also be a reunion of sorts for junior outfielder Kirsten Shortridge.
Shortridge played two seasons under Moore at Baylor before transferring to LSU.”We’re both good competition for each other,” Shortridge said. “It’s exciting — no hard feelings. I’m very thankful I went down that path, and it will be good to see everybody.”Shortridge said the Tigers can expect an offensive mindset from her old team.”Coach Moore is very aggressive on the base path,” she said. “He’s going to be getting people on and moving them around in whatever way he can … I’m not sure what he does with the new lineup, but I know the veterans. I bet it’ll all be the same.”—-Contact Davis Helman at [email protected]