LSU softball is for real
March 27, 2015
Plant City, FL
LSU Tigers give evidence they are for real
By Bill Plummer
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There is still alot left to the college softball season followed by > Regional and Super Regional Competition. And alot can happen between > now and the start of the regionals, but LSU could be a threat to win > it all in OKC this year. Some might wonder if this is the year for LSU.
With its recent dismantling of defending national champion Florida > (winning two of three games) and two-time champion Oklahoma,1-0 and > 10-2 (six innings) LSU has let the softball world know that this team > is serious about its fortunes this year and shouldn 't be taken > lightly. Neither Florida or OU took the Tigers lightly, but LSU played > the game at a high level to win four games from the defending champion > and highly-ranked OU.
With two of three wins against previously No. 1 Florida , the Tigers > jumped up two spots in the NFCA poll and one spot in the USA Softball > poll, marking the first time ever since the program was started in > 1979 and restarted in 1997 that an LSU team has been ranked No. 1 in > either, much less both polls at the same time.
There have been so many great players in this program’s history who > have truly helped in building LSU softball and paving the way for this > ranking and the success of this year’s team,†head coach Beth Torina > said. “We have a special group of young women that truly understand > the team concept and have worked hard to accomplish everything they > have done so far this season. We are honored by the respect we have > been shown for our accomplishments to this point; however, we have a > clear understanding that there is still a long way to go in the 2015 > season.
 If the Tigers continue on their merry way, they could eventually end > up in Oklahoma City for the College World Series. In the history of > the World Series, the Tigers have made two appearances, 2004 and 2001. > In 2004, the Tigers went 3-2 in the WCWS and in 2001 they were 2-2. > > Last year LSU compiled a 38-24 record and as if March 20, the Tigers > had achieved a 30-1 record with the only loss 4-3 to Florida in the > opener of a three-game series to end the Tigers' 25 game win streak.
But as Torina said earlier there is a long way to go in the 2015 > season and she realizes her team must maintain its perspective and > balance and peak at the right time. That could be if the team advances > to the College World Series in OKC.
Unfortunately, some teams peak too > early and never reach Oklahoma City and with it goes their dream of > playing in the WCWS. > The Tigers, who are undefeated at home, are playing the game at a high > level and are getting the offense (team BA of .365), the defense (.968 > fielding percentage) and pitching (opponents hitting only .186 with an > ERA of 1.33). The Tigers have scored 243 innings and allowed only 48 > runs in the 31 games. What's impressive is LSU has scored 66 of those > runs in the first inning putting pressure on the opposition.
They are > undefeated in 24 games after
leading after four innings and are 5-1 in > the SEC. > The pitching staff of Bayless Corbello, Allie Walljasper, Carley > Hoover and Kelsee Selman have fanned 224 batters in 194.2 innings, > allowing only 37 earned runs of the 48 total runs and only 11 homers. > Corbello has the lowest ERA (1.18) with none of the others having > earned run averages over 1.50, which is a good indication of the > balance and depth of this staff.
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Offensively, Blanka Bell (.561, 12 homers, 50 RBI's) and Bailey Landy > (.467) are leading the team. A.J. Andrews trails them with a .463 > average with Kellisi Kloss rounding out the top four with a .360 BA. > Bell was recently named SEA Conference Player of the Week in leading > wins over Nicholls and OU. This was the second time in consecutive > weeks for her to win the honor while freshman hurler Hoover won the > pitcher award for the first time. Through seven weeks of the season, > an LSU player has earned one of the conference's weekly honors six times.
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After helping lead LSU to a sweep of non-conference opponents in > Nicholls and No. 6 Oklahoma, LSU junior Infielder Bianka Bell repeated > as the Southeastern Conference Softball Player of the Week, while > pitcher Carley Hoover was named the SEC’s Freshman of the Week the > league announced today. This was the first time Hoover won this award > following in the foot steps of Walljasper who won the award in the > second week of the season. > > With its undefeated home record, the Tigers also are attracting people > to their games and are averaging 1,427 people for 23 home games and > for the season they are averaging 1,307 people per game.
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 It's been the best start in the history of the LSU program, but it's > not how you start the season. It's how you finish it and for LSU they > want to finish it in Oklahoma City with a national title.
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