Tag: LSU Softball

LSU softball shut out in Game 2 of Stanford Super Regional

LSU will face Stanford in a decisive Game 3 on Sunday night.

After turning in one of its best offensive performances in Game 1 of the Stanford Super Regional on Friday night, the LSU softball team was shut out in a 3-0 loss in Game 2 on Saturday.

Now, coach Beth Torina’s team faces Stanford in a winner-takes-all Game 3 on Sunday.

It was a low-scoring game in which hits were hard to come by for the Tigers. The Cardinal also struggled offensively against [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag], but they did manage a couple of runs on RBI doubles in the third and seventh innings. It also added a run on an RBI single in the seventh.

LSU, meanwhile, couldn’t do much of anything against NiJaree Canady after shelling her in Game 1 on Friday. It totaled just two hits in the loss.

The Tigers will play for their season on Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. CT.

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LSU softball run-rules Stanford in Game 1 of super regional with electric offensive performance

The Tigers delivered one of their best offensive outings of the year against an elite pitcher.

LSU softball saved arguably its best offensive performance of the season for a good time.

Facing one of the nation’s top pitchers in Stanford’s NiJaree Canady to open super regional play on Friday night, the Tigers shelled her en route to an 11-1 run-rule win in five innings.

LSU got things going on offense early. After a single and an error that allowed a runner to reach to lead off the top of the first, [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] hit an RBI double, followed by a two-RBI single from [autotag]Raeleen Gutierrez[/autotag] as it was 3-0 with no outs yet in the game.

But that was all the Tigers managed, and after Stanford got a run back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single, things were quiet until the fifth inning. [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag] and [autotag]Maci Bergergon[/autotag] added to that lead with a pair of RBI homers as LSU led 7-1.

That wasn’t all the Tigers had in store. After three straight singles, Lynch completely broke the game open with a grand slam, giving the team an 11-1 lead that was at the run-rule margin.

The lead ultimately held as LSU finished things up early in the fifth. Now, coach Beth Torina’s team will go into Saturday’s Game 2 with the chance to punch its first ticket to the Women’s College World Series since 2017.

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Coach Beth Torina frustrated LSU softball isn’t hosting a super regional

LSU’s RPI ranks fourth nationally, leading the SEC entering the postseason.

LSU had the benefit of hosting this weekend in the regional round of the NCAA softball tournament, and that proved to be quite an advantage as the Tigers easily went 3-0 to punch their ticket to the super regionals.

Now, coach Beth Torina’s team heads to face No. 8 Stanford on the road in the super regional round, but Torina is a bit frustrated that No. 9-seeded LSU isn’t hosting this coming weekend as a top-eight seed.

She pointed to LSU’s RPI, which leads the SEC at No. 4 nationally, as a metric that indicates the Tigers should have been seeded hire.

“I will say, I’ve been asked a lot about being the ninth seed and I haven’t commented on it,” Torina said, per WAFB’s Jacques Doucet. “I think our team’s resume was really strong, I’m not sure why we’re going to be going on the road. I think we had every number in this season that says that we shouldn’t have been. I think we did all the things we needed to do for this committee.

“I don’t know if we deserved more or didn’t, but it’s disappointing a bit. But I know the team’s excited, I know they’re ready for the next opportunity. We’ve done it the hard way many times, that’s kind of how we like to do it around here.”

Host or not, the Tigers will look to clinch their first berth at the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City for the first time since 2017 when they head out west for a three-game series against the Cardinal this coming weekend.

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LSU softball to travel to Stanford for super regional round

The Tigers will head to the West Coast to take on the Cardinal in the Stanford Super Regional.

The LSU softball team punched its ticket to the super regionals on Sunday, winning the Baton Rouge Regional final in one game against Southern Illinois with a 9-0 run-rule victory.

The Tigers then had to wait to find out if they would host a super regional in Baton Rouge or hit the road to face Stanford. Ultimately, it will be a trip to the Stanford Super Regional after the Cardinal survived in Game 7 against Cal State Fullerton, winning 4-2 after falling 8-1 in the first game of the regional.

Stanford is the No. 9 national seed and sits at 45-14 on the year. It beat an SEC team, Mississippi State, in its regional, and it also faced SEC foes Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia earlier in the year, going 2-2 in those contests.

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LSU softball run-rules Southern Illinois to advance to super regionals

LSU advances to a super regional for the 10th time in program history and first since 2021.

LSU’s breezy run through the Baton Rouge Regional continued on Sunday. The Tigers shut out Southern Illinois 9-0 in run-rule fashion as they took the opening game of the regional final and advanced to the super regionals next weekend.

[autotag]Raeleen Gutierrez[/autotag] got the scoring started in the bottom of the first, connecting on a two-out RBI double to right field as LSU led 1-0 early. [autotag]Karli Petty[/autotag] added to that in the second with an RBI single with two runners on base.

After a sacrifice flyout from [autotag]Ciara Briggs[/autotag], [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag] really broke the game wide open with a three-run homer as the Tigers put up a five-spot in the frame to go up 6-0.

The flood continued for LSU in the third, with [autotag]Maci Bergeron[/autotag] hitting a two-run bomb followed by a solo shot from Petty. [autotag]Kelley Lynch[/autotag] wrapped up the one-hit complete game in the fifth, earning a shutout win while striking out six batters.

Now, LSU advances to the super regional round for the 10th time in program history and first since 2021, where it will either travel to face No. 8 national seed Stanford or host Cal State Fullerton in Baton Rouge.

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LSU softball breezes past Southern Illinois into Baton Rouge Regional final

LSU is now one win from securing a berth in a super regional.

LSU softball is just one win away from a berth in a super regional after it won its winners’ bracket game against Southern Illinois 4-1. Coach Beth Torina’s team moves on to the regional final, where its opponent hasn’t yet been determined.

The Tigers started out hot in the first inning when [autotag]Taylor Pleasants[/autotag] hit a two-run bomb to take the early lead, and it nearly added to it in the second inning but stranded a pair of baserunners. But in the third, [autotag]Ali Newland[/autotag] hit a two-out RBI single as LSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

The Salukis managed to cut into the lead in the sixth inning, though it was just one run as they trailed by two entering the final frame. However, that margin didn’t last as a sacrifice fly from [autotag]Ciara Briggs[/autotag] in the top of the seventh put the Tigers back up three runs.

[autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag], who allowed just four hits and one run while striking out eight in a complete game, retired the side in order to secure the win in the bottom of the seventh.

Now, Southern Illinois faces the winner of an elimination game between Cal and Jackson State. The winner of the subsequent elimination game will face the Tigers in Sunday’s regional final needing to win two in a row.

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LSU softball shuts out Jackson State to open Baton Rouge Regional

The Tigers opened the 2024 NCAA tournament in impressive fashion on Friday.

LSU is moving on to the winners’ bracket of the Baton Rouge Regional after Raelin Chaffin tossed a complete game shutout in a 5-0 win. Now, the Tigers move on to face three-seeded Southern Illinois, which upset Cal in Game 1 of the regional on Friday.

After Chaffin got out of the first inning allowing just one walk, the Tigers took the early lead on an RBI single from [autotag]Raeleen Gutierrez[/autotag] in the bottom of the first. LSU almost added a second run on a single from [autotag]McKenzie Redoutey[/autotag], but Gutierrez was thrown out trying to make it from second to home as the inning ended.

In the fourth, LSU added to its lead with an RBI groundout from [autotag]Madisyn Manning[/autotag] followed by an RBI single from [autotag]Karli Petty[/autotag]. With two more RBI groundouts in the sixth, LSU jumped out to a 5-0 lead.

Chaffin ultimately allowed just two hits while striking out 7 as the Tigers move on to face the Salukis on Saturday in a game that is currently scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.

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LSU softball drops a spot in latest national rankings after SEC tournament

The Tigers went 2-1 in the SEC tournament last week, but they still saw a slight drop in the polls entering the NCAA tournament.

Overall, it was a good week in Auburn, Alabama, for the LSU Tigers softball team.

Coach Beth Torina’s squad opened with a marathon against Alabama, surviving a 14-inning game in which [autotag]Sydney Berzon[/autotag] tossed more than 200 pitches. LSU’s winning ways continued into the quarterfinals when it knocked No. 1 seed Tennessee out of the tournament.

But that run ended in the semifinals against Missouri, and despite that showing, LSU ultimately fell a spot in both the USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll and ESPN.com/USA Softball rankings to No. 11 and No. 10, respectively.

Both are lower than the national seed the Tigers ultimately earned in the NCAA tournament at No. 9.

Hosting a regional for the second year in a row, LSU will open the postseason on Friday against Jackson State in Tiger Park.

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Breaking down LSU’s recent history in NCAA softball tournament

Coach Beth Torina last reached the Women’s College World Series in 2017. Here’s how every NCAA tournament trip since has gone for the Tigers.

The LSU softball team learned its NCAA tournament fate on Sunday night.

The Tigers ultimately earned the No. 9 national seed and will host at Tiger Park in Baton Rouge for the regional round, which begins this Friday. However, coach Beth Torina’s squad will ultimately need some luck in order to host in the super regional round. If high seeds win out, LSU would head to Stanford for the super regional round.

Torina has been at LSU since 2012 and has reached the Women’s College World Series four times. However, the last was in 2017, and the Tigers have never captured a softball national title in program history.

With the NCAA tournament beginning this weekend, here’s how Torina and LSU’s last five trips to the postseason have gone.

Last season, the Tigers earned the No. 10 national seed and won their first two games to put themselves in the regional final. However, they lost two in a row to UL-Lafayette as they suffered their third consecutive regional exit.

LSU failed to secure a national seed in 2022 and was sent to the Tempe regional as an at-large. It never got to face ultimate regional champion Arizona State as it went two-and-done with losses to San Diego State and Cal State Fullerton.

After a 21-3 start in 2020 was squandered by the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the entire season, LSU returned to the tournament in 2021 and earned the No. 7 seed, which was the last time the Tigers earned a top-eight national seed. They won their first two in the regional round but needed two games to dispatch UL-Lafayette in the regional final. LSU hosted against Florida State in the super regional round but lost the first two games.

As the No. 10 national seed in 2019, LSU survived the Baton Rouge Regional, though it went to a decisive game against Texas Tech in the final. It advanced to the Minneapolis Super Regional to face Minnesota, where it dropped the first two games to the Golden Gophers.

After going 1-2 in the WCWS the prior season, Torina’s squad actually improved its national seeding in 2018 from No. 13 to No. 11. The Tigers won their first two games in the regional before once again facing the Ragin’ Cajuns in the final, where they needed two games to dispatch them. In the Tallahassee Super Regional, LSU lost two of three games to the Seminoles.

SEC softball leads the way with 13 teams in the NCAA Tournament

The SEC is sending 13 teams to the NCAA softball tournament, tying its own record.

The SEC is sending 13 teams to the 2024 NCAA softball tournament, tying its own record for most by a conference in the tournament. The league previously accomplished the feat in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Eight of the SEC’s 13 teams earned national seeds, including LSU at No. 9.

Tennessee is the SEC’s highest seed, coming in at No. 3. The Vols, along with No. 4 Florida and No. 7 Missouri are all guaranteed to host a super regional if they advance out of the first round.

At No. 9, Beth Torina and LSU hosting a super regional is possible, but the Tigers need help. If No. 8 Stanford fails to advance from its regional, the door opens for a super regional in Baton Rouge.

If SEC softball wasn’t tough enough already, the league will get even stronger with No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Oklahoma joining the fold next year. LSU notched an impressive win over Texas in March, beating the Longhorns 7-4 in Baton Rouge.

Despite the depth of the league, just two SEC programs — Alabama and Florida — have won the national title since the inaugural national tournament.

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