If the LSU softball team was disappointed by its performance against top competition last weekend in Palm Springs, Calif., it’s going to have plenty more chances at redemption.
The No. 21 Tigers (12-5) went 2-2 at the Cathedral City Classic, but they dropped both of their games against ranked competition — No. 4 Arizona and No. 11 California.
“We played really pretty good against Arizona,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard. “Berkeley just beat us — just came in, punched us in the mouth and left us looking like Bad News Bears on the field.”
The letdown won’t last for long, however, as LSU welcomes three teams to Tiger Park for the Purple and Gold Challenge this weekend — including No. 12 Texas (14-2).
“We lost to them last year, but we went toe-to-toe with them,” Girouard said. “We’ll have to play our best this weekend if we’re going to survive.”
Apart from the Longhorns, LSU also faces Pittsburgh (7-3) and Hofstra (6-4) this weekend. The Tigers face the Panthers and the Pride to open the tournament Friday. They then face Texas on Saturday before bracket play begins — when the teams will be seeded one through four, determined by record. The championship and consolation games will be played Sunday.
“The only thing we can do is think back [to last weekend] and see what we’re missing,” said junior pitcher Brittany Mack. “Just fixing the little fine things — that can help us a lot with these big teams.”
Girouard said the Tigers need to work on their defense if they want to compete against the strong field this weekend. LSU committed a total of 11 errors in the final three games of its weekend in California. The Tigers committed five of those in the second game, an 11-3 drubbing at the hands of California.
“We mainly couldn’t catch in Palm Springs … and that’s kind of frustrating at this level, that the play is there and you can’t catch the ball,” Girouard said.
Injury problems have contributed to the shoddy performance. Third baseman Jessica Mouse is still missing from the roster with a foot injury, and Girouard could not set a timetable for her return. The Tigers also lost sophomore shortstop Allison Falcon during the weekend and won’t get her back this season.
“That was our starting shortstop last year, so she’s gone for the year,” Girouard said. “We still haven’t gotten Mouse and [senior outfielder Ashley] Applegate back, and we don’t know when that’s going to happen.”
LSU is running out of time to sort out its issues before conference play begins. When this tournament is finished, the Tigers open Southeastern Conference play with games against No. 2 Florida and No. 1 Georgia in the next week.
“We know now what we need to work on,” said junior shortstop Juliana Santos. “The SEC is real tough, and we start hard and quick … but we’re ready to fight.”