For three LSU softball players, traveling to Cathedral City, California for the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic is more than just another tournament on the road: It’s home.
Senior catcher Sahvanna Jaquish, junior pitcher Allie Walljasper and freshman infielder Amanda Doyle will get to play in their home state this weekend after a long 10 home game stretch to begin the season.
Jaquish grew up going to the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic and it was something she always imagined playing in one day.
“I’ve been to this tournament since I was five years old,” Jaquish said. “I was the girl out there trying to get everyone’s signatures and just dreaming about being a college athlete.”
For Walljasper, a Manteca, California native, it is also a dream come true.
“My senior year, we made the trip down to [Palm Springs] to go watch LSU play,” Walljasper said. “I was just in awe when I went. I always dreamed to play there in front of all my family. It’s just really awesome to fulfill those dreams.”
LSU coach Beth Torina has taken her team to this tournament for five years in a row, and has had nine players from California play for her since she has been at LSU.
“It’s a nice opportunity to take our California kids back close to home so that their family and friends have an opportunity to see them play,” Torina said. “That’s the most important thing about it.”
The competition will be among the best the No. 7 Tigers have seen this season so far as they prepare for SEC play beginning March 10.
“The biggest challenge this weekend is just facing a lot of different looks on the mound,” Torina said. “There is going to be a lot of different types of pitchers. We’re going to have to hit up, we’re going to have to hit down. We’ll have to cover a lot of things offensively, so that will be the biggest challenge — just adjusting game to game with all the different looks we are going to see.”
The Tigers have six players batting over .350, but are still looking to find consistent success on offense coming off of a 2-0 win against University of Central Arkansas.
The Tigers will play New Mexico State, Bethune-Cookman, Long Beach State, No. 6 UCLA and No. 17 Utah.
LSU leads series records against each team except for UCLA.
The tournament from Feb. 23-25 is a step along the way to prepare a young LSU softball team for the challenges to come against teams in the SEC .
“Every game is a test,” Walljasper said. “Just going there and being on the road and playing some top teams that are ranked pretty high is going to be pretty cool to see what we really have against other opponents.”
The Tigers will play a doubleheader on Thursday against New Mexico State at 12:30 p.m. and Bethune-Cookman at 3 p.m. at the Big League Dreams sports complex in Cathedral City, California.

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Caroline Magee

LSU freshman infielder Amanda Doyle (22) hits the ball during the Tigers’ 14-2 victory over OSU on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, in Tiger Park.