LSU softball coach Beth Torina likes to play tough schedules, and playing the best teams was the reason she was excited about the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Invitational last weekend.
It turned out to be one of the toughest weekends of Torina’s 11-year tenure.
Not only did LSU drop three of the five games but also a “massive” travel delay and a stomach flu that hit the team on arrival presented the Tigers with some unexpected adversity.
“I can definitely say it was a tough trip for a lot of reasons that had nothing to do with on the field ... travel sickness, you name it, we went through it,” Torina said Tuesday. “We’ll be better for it in the long run. It would be nice to have different personnel available at different times over the weekend and they were not.”
LSU opened strong with a 10-2 victory against No. 7 Oklahoma State on Friday, but the 4 a.m. arrival that day and the flu bug ultimately took its toll. LSU fell to No. 5 Washington, 9-4, in a game whose start was pushed back by two hours because of extra-inning games.
LSU then had to come back the next morning at 9:30 and dropped an 8-6 battle to Notre Dame and a 6-1 loss to No. 16 Michigan before salvaging a 2-0 win against Texas Tech on Sunday.
The weekend dropped LSU to 6-5, its worst start since going 6-5 to start the 1981 season. LSU didn’t play softball from 1982 through 1996. It also dropped the Tigers three spots to No. 24 in the NFCA coaches poll.
Torina took some positives from the trip.
“In the Oklahoma State game, we learned a ton about our team,” Torina said. “We know that’s the team we need to be. I love how we played in that game, attacked that game. That was definitely the highlight of the trip.
"They (young players) found where they need to play on an emotional level. How they need to approach a game, not getting too high or low.”
Danieca Coffey (.389) and Ciara Briggs (.382) pace the offense as the two hitters at the top of the lineup. Coffey had eight hits in 19 at-bats and drove in three runs as the leadoff hitter. Freshman McKenzie Redoutey, sophomore Ali Newland and senior Shelbi Sunseri hit homers for the Tigers.
All-American shortstop Taylor Pleasants continues to struggle with only two hits for the weekend to drop her batting average to .121.
Pitcher Ali Kilponen got both LSU wins, allowing one earned run in 13 innings and tossing a three-hit shutout, her second of the season, with eight strikeouts and no walks against Texas Tech.
Circus catch
LSU doesn’t have Aliyah Andrews making diving catches in center field any more, but Briggs had a highlight-reel moment Sunday. She went back on a ball hit by Tech’s Molly Grumbo and robbed her of a homer with a tumbling catch over the temporary fence.
“It was so cool how excited she was, how fired up,” Torina said. “I said we’re going to play center field great, it’s going to be different and that was different from any catch we saw Aliyah or AJ make.
"She literally played it perfectly, couldn’t have played it any better with the way she used the fence and understood how to do it.”
Redoutey making waves
Torina complimented the play of Redoutey, who batted .333 (4 for 12) with a team-best six RBIs and four walks over the weekend. She hit a three-run homer to give LSU a 7-2 lead vs. Oklahoma State.
“She’s a really special player,” Torina said. “She got set back coming out of high school with her ACL, so we didn’t get to see her full-go this fall. Now that she’s full speed everybody’s starting to see she’s super talented, so many things she can do. Powerful, really good strike-zone awareness. The sky’s the limit. She’s going to keep growing.”