The LSU Tigers[n 1] softball team represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and plays home games in Tiger Park. The team is currently coached by Beth Torina.

LSU Tigers Softball
2024 LSU Tigers softball team
Founded1979 (44 years ago)
UniversityLouisiana State University
Athletic directorScott Woodward
Head coachBeth Torina (12th season)
ConferenceSEC
LocationBaton Rouge, LA
Home stadiumTiger Park (Capacity: 1,289 (1,200 additional seats on the Tiger Park Terrace)
NicknameTigers
ColorsPurple and gold[1]
   
NCAA WCWS appearances
2001, 2004, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017
NCAA Super Regional appearances
2006, 2007, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
NCAA Tournament appearances
1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference Tournament championships
1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007
Regular Season Conference championships
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004

History

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LSU has won nine Western Division titles, five regular season SEC championships and five SEC tournament championships. LSU has also appeared in six Women's College World Series and nineteen NCAA tournaments. The team has finished third at the Women's College World series four times (2001, 2004, 2015, 2016) and fifth two times (2012, 2017).

Carol Smith era (1979-1981)

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LSU softball had its beginnings in 1979 with a team coached by Carol Smith. However, after only three seasons, LSU decided to disband its softball program. During Smith's tenure, she coached the team to an overall record of 45–28 (.616).

Cathy Compton era (1997-1998)

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In 1997 the Southeastern Conference decided to begin sponsoring softball, partly to help member institutions to comply with Title IX. LSU softball was reborn with the hiring of Cathy Compton from Nicholls State University. Compton was head coach from 1997 through the 1998 regular season and finished with an overall record of 100–26 (.797) and 41–12 (.774) in the SEC.

Glenn Moore era (1999-2000)

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Glenn Moore became head coach at LSU starting with the 1998 NCAA Tournament. He was head coach at LSU through the 2000 season and compiled a 117–25 (.824) overall record and 53–7 (.883) SEC record.

Yvette Girouard era (2001-2011)

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In 2001, LSU hired NFCA Hall of Fame head coach Yvette Girouard from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. During her 11 years as head coach, Girouard had an overall record of 526–171–1 (.754) and SEC record of 220–93–1 (.702). She led the Tigers to two College Women's World Series appearances and made the NCAA Tournament in ten of her eleven years as head coach. She coached LSU to three SEC championships (2001, 2002, 2004) and four SEC tournament championships (2001, 2002, 2004, 2007). She retired following the 2011 season.

During Girouard's tenure as head coach, LSU moved into the new Tiger Park during the spring of 2009 after previously playing at the Original Tiger Park that opened in 1997.

Beth Torina era (2012-present)

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On June 9, 2011, LSU announced long-time Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy was hired to replace Yvette Girouard. However, three days later, Murphy announced that he had changed his mind and would remain at Alabama. LSU then hired Beth Torina, head coach at Florida International University (FIU) on June 20, 2011. Torina led the Tigers to the Women's College World Series in her first season as head coach in 2012 and also has led the Tigers to the World Series in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

With Torina as head coach, the program earned its 1,000th victory on May 1, 2016 after defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks 9-1 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.[3]

Year-by-Year Records

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Year Coach Overall Conference Standing Notes
Independent (1979–1981)
1979 Carol Smith 16–7
1980 Carol Smith 15–9
1981 Carol Smith 14–12
No team fielded from 1982–1996
Southeastern Conference (1997–present)
1997 Cathy Compton 44–14 18–6 SEC Western Division Champions
1998 Cathy Compton (first 68 games)
Glenn Moore (last 4 games)
58–14 23–6 SEC Western Division Champions; NCAA Regionals
1999 Glenn Moore 56–10 27–3 SEC Champions; SEC Tournament Champions; NCAA Regionals
2000 Glenn Moore 59–13 26–4 SEC Champions; SEC Tournament Runners-Up; NCAA Regionals
2001 Yvette Girouard 59–11 26–4 SEC Champions; SEC Tournament Champions; Women's College World Series
2002 Yvette Girouard 56–11 25–4 SEC Champions; SEC Tournament Champions; NCAA Regionals
2003 Yvette Girouard 50–18 20–9 SEC Tournament Runners-Up; NCAA Regionals
2004 Yvette Girouard 57–12 22–6 SEC Champions; SEC Tournament Champions; Women's College World Series
2005 Yvette Girouard 31–23 12–18
2006 Yvette Girouard 55–14 22–8 NCAA Super Regionals
2007 Yvette Girouard 55–12 22–6 SEC Western Division Champions; SEC Tournament Champions; NCAA Super Regionals
2008 Yvette Girouard 44–18 17–11 NCAA Regionals
2009 Yvette Girouard 34–18–1 15–10–1 NCAA Regionals
2010 Yvette Girouard 45–16 20–8 NCAA Regionals
2011 Yvette Girouard 40–18 19–9 NCAA Regionals
2012 Beth Torina 40–25 15–13 Women's College World Series
2013 Beth Torina 42–16 15–8 SEC Western Division Champions; NCAA Regionals
2014 Beth Torina 38–24 13–11 NCAA Regionals
2015 Beth Torina 52–14 15–9 Women's College World Series
2016 Beth Torina 50–16 13–11 Women's College World Series
2017 Beth Torina 48–22 12–12 Women's College World Series
2018 Beth Torina 45–17 13–11 NCAA Super Regionals
2019 Beth Torina 43–19 14–10 NCAA Super Regionals
2020 Beth Torina 21–3 0–0 Tournament cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Beth Torina 35–22 13–11 NCAA Super Regionals
2022 Beth Torina 34–23 13–11 NCAA Regionals
Total 1,236–451–1 (.733) 450–219–1 (.672)

Awards and honors

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National awards

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Women's College World Series MVP[4]
  • Kristin Schmidt (2004)
NFCA Catcher of the Year[5]
  • Killian Roessner (2007)

Conference awards

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SEC Player of the Year
  • Ashlee Ducote (2000)
  • Britni Sneed (2001)
  • Trena Peel (2002)
SEC Pitcher of the Year
  • Britni Sneed (2002)
SEC Freshman of the Year
  • Rachele Fico (2010)
  • Bianka Bell (2013)
SEC Tournament MVP
  • Ashley Lewis (1999)
  • Britni Sneed (2001, 2002)
  • Kristin Schmidt (2003, 2004)
  • Dani Hofer (2007)

All-Americans

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Player Position Year(s) Team
Jodi Otten 2B 1998 3rd Team
Ashlee Ducote 3B 1999, 2000 1st Team, 1st Team
Stephanie Hastings 2B 2000 1st Team
Tara Asbill SS 2000 3rd Team
Britni Sneed P 2000, 2001, 2002 2nd Team, 1st Team, 1st Team
Trena Peel OF 2002 2nd Team
Kristin Schmidt P 2003, 2004 3rd Team, 2nd Team
LaDonia Hughes OF 2004 2nd Team
Leslie Klein OF 2004, 2006, 2007 3rd Team, 3rd Team, 3rd Team
Emily Turner P 2006, 3rd Team
Killian Roessner C 2007 1st Team
Kirsten Shortridge OF 2009, 2010 3rd Team, 1st Team
Brittany Mack P 2011 3rd Team
Rachele Fico P 2012, 2013 1st Team, 1st Team
AJ Andrews OF 2013 3rd Team
Sahvanna Jaquish DP or UT 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 2nd Team, 2nd Team, 3rd Team, 1st Team
Bianka Bell SS, 3B 2015, 2016 1st Team, 3rd Team
Allie Walljasper P 2015, 2017 3rd Team, 3rd Team
Carley Hoover P 2015 3rd Team
Bailey Landry OF 2015, 2017 2nd Team, 1st Team
Amanda Sánchez 3B 2019 2nd Team
Shelbi Sunsieri UT/P 2019 2nd Team

Stadiums

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Tiger Park

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Tiger Park

Tiger Park opened in 2009 and serves as the home field of the LSU Tigers softball team. The official capacity of the stadium is 1,289 people. The stadium also features an outfield berm, renamed the Tiger Park Terrace in 2016, that can accommodate an additional 1,200 fans.[1]

Tiger Park (1997)

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The original Tiger Park was a softball stadium located on the campus of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[1] It served as the home field of the LSU Tigers softball team from 1997-2008. The official capacity of the stadium was 1,000 people. The stadium was opened prior to the 1997 college softball season and played host to four NCAA Regionals in 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2006 and hosted the 2008 SEC softball tournament. The 2008 season was the twelfth and final season in the original Tiger Park. LSU closed out the original Tiger Park with a home record of 331-51, including 140-34 in the SEC and 1-1 in the SEC Tournament.

Practice and Training facilities

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LSU Strength and Conditioning facility

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The LSU North Stadium Weight Room strength training and conditioning facility is located in the LSU Strength and Conditioning facility. Built in 1997, it is located adjacent to Tiger Stadium.[6] Measuring 10,000-square feet with a flat surface, it has 28 multi-purpose power stations, 36 assorted selectorized machines and 10 dumbbell stations along with a plyometric specific area, medicine balls, hurdles, plyometric boxes and assorted speed and agility equipment.[7] It also features 4 treadmills, 6 stationary bikes, 4 elliptical cross trainers, 2 stair stepper and stepmill.[8]

Head coaches

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Name Years Record at LSU
Carol Smith 1979–1981 45–28 Overall
Cathy Compton 1997–1998 100–26 Overall, 41–12 SEC
Glenn Moore 1998–2000 117–25 Overall, 53–7 SEC
Yvette Girouard 2001–2011 526–171–1 Overall, 220–93–1 SEC
Beth Torina 2012–present 358–153 Overall, 110–85 SEC

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ LSU uses the nickname of "Lady Tigers" only in sports that have both men's and women's teams. Since LSU only sponsors gymnastics, soccer, softball, and volleyball for women, those teams use "Tigers" instead.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Brand Guidelines: Colors". LSUAthletics.LingoApp.com. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  2. ^ Megargee, Steve (June 26, 2015). "Tennessee set to make move to a lone 'Lady Vols' team". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved June 26, 2015. An Associated Press survey of all 65 schools from the five major conferences found that at least 28 had separate nicknames for men's and women's teams at some point in their histories. Only seven continue that practice, and in most cases they only have separate nicknames for certain women's teams. Texas Tech uses the Lady Raiders for women's teams in sports that also have men's teams: basketball, tennis, golf, track and cross country. LSU uses a similar strategy.
  3. ^ "Softball Sweeps Arkansas With 9-1 Win". lsusports.net. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  4. ^ "Schmidt Named WCWS MVP, Harris to All-Tournament Team". lsusports.net. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
  5. ^ "Diamomnd catchers of the year Division I". nfca.org. Retrieved June 15, 2008.
  6. ^ "LSU Strength and Conditioning". lsusports.net. September 29, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2013.
  7. ^ "A Strength Training Legacy" (PDF). biggerfasterstronger.com. Retrieved January 26, 2016.
  8. ^ "LSU Tigers' Weight Room". ESPN The Magazine. November 14, 2012. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
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