Midweek, non-conference games are not a favorite of LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard.
“It is a coach’s nightmare sometimes,” Girouard said. “There is not much that we [coaches] have to motivate the players for.”
Not only does No. 11 LSU face that challenge when it hosts in-state opponent Centenary at Tiger Park in a doubleheader at 5:30 p.m., but the Tigers are also coming off a huge series victory over Southeastern Conference West leading Alabama last weekend.
“When you play a conference series and an Alabama comes into town, there is not much I have to say,” Girouard said. “They are already floating on air. It is the midweek games against in-state schools that petrify coaches.”
For that reason, Giroaurd said the Tigers must simply buckle down and play their brand of softball.
“We talk to them all the time about not playing the name on their jersey,” Giroaurd said. “We tell them just to play Tiger softball, and that is what we need to do.”
Girouard, who used to coach at UL-Lafayette and cited personal experience, said in-state schools are shooting for the Tigers because they represent the elite softball program in the state.
“Take it from a person who was coaching the other team,” Giroaurd said. “This is the game on their schedule against the flagship university, and everybody in this state wants to beat you, and it is a bragging right.”
Despite its 17-18 record and struggles in the past, Girouard said the Tigers are facing a much improved Centenary club whose pitcher, Janis Kelley, recently pitched a no-hitter against in-state rival McNeese State.
“They are much better,” Girouard said. “They used to be not very good. McNeese has got a very decent ballclub and a team that can hit always. That got my attention real quick.”
Girouard will send Kristin Schmidt and Tessa Lynam to the circle in the separate games.
Lynam, who gave up seven runs to Alabama and twelve runs to Mississippi State in her last two starts, will try to bounce back with a solid performance.
“She threw better against Alabama,” Giroaurd said. “The score did not really reflect it, but I know that she threw better. We are going to get over this hump with her right now. Because she threw great until the SEC, but we are going to solve that situation.”