Just five games into Southeastern Conference play, and the LSU softball team has already seen the best competition it will face all year.
The results, however, have been far from positive.
Just two days after they were swept by No. 2 Florida, the No. 21 Tigers (15-10, 0-5) tried their luck against No. 1 Georgia (19-1, 3-0), only to be swept away again.
The 0-5 start in SEC play is LSU’s worst opening in school history.
“We knew coming into the weekend that we would have to play our best softball to be successful against a very tough Georgia team that plays extremely well at home,” said LSU coach Yvette Girouard in a news release. “Unfortunately, the Tigers weren’t up to the challenge.”
The Bulldogs emphasized the sweep Sunday with a 12-0 run-rule victory that saw them jump ahead immediately with a five-run first inning, followed closely by a seven-run third.
The Tigers were only able to manage two hits on the afternoon, which ended early when the game was called by run rule.
Sunday’s defeat was the most lopsided of a series that got progressively worse as the weekend went on. The Tigers hung with Georgia on Friday, rallying to score two runs in the seventh inning before ultimately succumbing, 6-3.
“It’s not the outcome that any of us want, but I saw some very good things against a very talented Georgia team,” Girouard said Friday night.
But the Tigers couldn’t build on that performance, as the team’s Saturday game was a harbinger of things to come. The Bulldogs scored in all four of their innings of the second game before run-ruling LSU, 8-0.
Georgia feasted on the Tigers’ pitching staff, as one might expect from the weekend’s high scores. Sophomore pitcher Rachele Fico, who has endured a brutal month since starting the season 3-0, bore the worst of the brunt.
The Bulldogs dinged Fico for nine hits and six earned runs in her six innings of work Friday and then knocked her for four hits and five runs in a one-inning outing Sunday.
LSU’s other pitchers didn’t fare much better in the series, as junior Brittany Mack surrendered nine hits and seven earned runs in two appearances. Freshman Meghan Patterson pitched 3 1/3 innings, giving up six hits but only two earned runs.
The Tigers travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to face Southern Miss on Wednesday, but LSU’s next conference matchup is against No. 23 Kentucky.
“We have a talented group of players, and we’ll have to regroup after this rough stretch,” Girouard said. “There’s still plenty of ball left to be played in the season.”
 
 
 
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