The LSU softball team spent the 2015 season rewriting the record books.
The team had its best start to a season in LSU athletic history, 25-0, the first 50-win season for the program since 2007 and reached the Women’s College World Series for the fourth time, finishing third. Even with all of the accolades, the 2015 season still wasn’t good enough for coach Beth Torina and her team.
They want to win it all.
The Tigers earned their highest preseason ranking ever when they were voted No. 3 in both the USA Today and NFCA Division I Softball Coaches Poll.
Two-time defending national champions Florida topped both polls with Michigan taking the second spot. Southeastern Conference rivals Auburn and Alabama rounded out the top-five.
LSU was also selected by the SEC’s coaches to finish second in the league behind the Gators in the annual preseason poll. The Tigers earned three first-place votes and 128 points, and Florida received 10 first-place votes with 142 overall points.
“We had the potential to finish first, so it was a little bittersweet,” said senior first baseman Sandra Simmons on the WCWS third-place finish. “Finishing third is awesome, but it’s not what we worked for. We worked to be number one at the end of the year.”
Simmons said the team came right back and began working to get back to the WCWS to finish the job this year. The team returns enough firepower to do just that.
Torina, who is entering her fifth season, said this is the most talent she has had on one team at LSU.
“This is the deepest roster we’ve ever had,” Torina said “We did return a strong core, but we also added six extremely talented freshmen.”
Seven daily starters and three pitchers return for the Tigers, which combined for over 80 percent of the team’s defense, pitching statistics and offense, according to LSUsports.net. Simmons and infielder Bianka Bell headline a veteran senior class.
Bell led the team in home runs, setting a program high for homers in season with 18. She finished second in RBIs with 73 and batting average with .415 last season.
Bell has started all but two games in her career, serving primarily at shortstop.
Simmons is a three-year starter heading into her final season and has only missed one game in her career. She finished 2015 with a .331 batting average, was named to the SEC All-Defensive Team last season and was the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional MVP.
Sophomore pitcher Carley Hoover will likely be the LSU pitching staff’s ace. She led the team in wins with 18, earned run average with 1.78, strikeouts with 174 and secured five saves to tie former-LSU standout Rachele Fico.
“I’ll use last year as fuel for this season,” Hoover said. “This year I can take that experience and now go off with two full years of hard work under coach Torina… I’m going to make huge personal strides this year in my pitching.”
Behind Hoover is fellow sophomore Allie Walljasper. She was second to Hoover in wins with 16, ERA with 1.83, strikeouts with 97, but led the team in fewest earned runs allowed with 34.
Junior Baylee Corbello enters her third year as the Tigers’ most seasoned hurler experienced pitcher for the Tigers with 28 career wins after going 9-2 a season ago.
Freshman Sydney Smith will battle for time in the circle for the Tigers in relief or the third option for Torina.
The two-time Minnesota Gatorade Softball Player of The Year finished her senior campaign 20-1 overall with an ERA below 0.20.
The Tigers depth could prove a challenge for the coaching staff to decide which players to start and sit.
Torina said early on there will be plenty of changes in the lineup but hopes to have a stable, everyday lineup set by the time SEC play starts. But she said some lineups might change based on game matchups.
“We have a team that can compete at the highest level,” Torina said. “It’s a special time to be a part of LSU softball.”
You can reach Marc Stevens on Twitter @Marc_TDR