The LSU softball team is off and running with a 13-2 start. This weekend they head to Columbus, Georgia for the Lead Off Classic. Wednesday afternoon, Joey Papania from LSUsports.net sat down with head coach Glenn Moore to discuss this year’s team.
Papania: This year’s schedule looks to be one of the toughest in the country. What was the main reason for such a strong non-conference schedule this year?
Moore: Since this is our fourth year, I felt we finally have a veteran program. Our conference isn’t quite where some of the other conferences are, such as the Big 12 and the Pac-10. However, (the SEC) is gaining strength and credibility every year. I felt that we needed a pre-conference schedule that would really prepare us not only for conference play, but postseason play as well. We definitely have the strongest of any schedule we’ve ever had, and it has given us a good test right now. Evaluations have been good. We know where we are, and we’re not where we want to be. It’s pretty eye opening.
Papania: Already this season, you’ve faced and beaten Washington, a team that knocked you out of the regional two years ago. You’ve also split two games with Southern Mississippi, the team that knocked you out of last year’s regional. How important was it to play well against these teams?
Moore: After playing those teams, I think the biggest thing is seeing how far we’ve come as a program. We played several Pac-10 schools last year and were unable to find a way to win. This year, right off the bat, we were able to play well against Washington and beat them when they were ranked No. 2, and a week after that they made it to No. 1. So we’ve essentially beat a No. 1 ranked team, and it’s developed confidence. Also seeing that type of pitching definitely prepares your hitters. You don’t pad your stats, they don’t look as good as some of the other conference schools, but when it comes down to conference time, I think we’ll be prepared for the type of pitching we’ll see (in the SEC).
Papania: This weekend you travel to Columbus, Georgia for the Lead Off Classic. Can you talk a little about some of the teams you will face?
Moore: In pool-play we’ll start off with Boston College, Michigan and then Hawaii. Boston College is building a strong program. They’re coming up. They’re not one of the elites right now. But Michigan and Hawaii are both very good programs. Michigan’s in the top five or six every year, I think they just dropped to No. 9. But year in year out they are producing All-Americans, they’re just a very good program. Hawaii is probably at the pinnacle of their program. They are a veteran team as well with a good many seniors. The competition doesn’t get any easier, we’re not playing a No. 1 or No. 2 team but when you get in the top eight or nine, anybody can beat anybody, and everyone has good pitching. Last year we found out quickly that we were going to face everyone’s number one pitcher. So, it makes our hitters better. But that’s the type of schedule we wanted to get us where we wanted. We knew that we had to play top ranked competition in order to not only host a regional, but to host a regional the at draws maybe weaker competition, or maybe not quite as strong as what we had last year. We’ll need to maintain a top six or seven ranking, so that’s one of our goals and we need to work hard to stay there.
Papania: There are six seniors on the team this year, six girls that have been with the program since it started. How important is the season to them in particular?
Moore: I think their approach is great. Talent-wise, we can hang with anyone in the country, not that we are the most talented, but we can play with most teams. There is a sense of urgency with these seniors that they haven’t made it to the World Series yet, and this is their last opportunity. So as for their work ethic and mental preparation, they’re not leaving any stones unturned, so to speak. That’s one of the reasons why we drew up the schedule the way we did. We knew we were going to be tested. We knew we may not get the wins we’ve had in previous years. We did feel like we’d win our share of games, but would we reach a 45-win year or not? I don’t know. That remains to be seen. But we knew we’d be prepared by playing this type of competition. To answer your question, the girls are looking at this like it’s their last chance, especially the seniors. Let’s don’t have any regret…that’s the approach they are taking.
Papania: With a 1.04 team ERA, pitching is obviously a strength of this year’s team. In what area do you feel the team has most improved on since last year to this year?
Moore: I really feel that, so far in the season, probably our pitching, even though it’s been pretty decent, has been a little disappointing. We’ve made some adjustments and I’m expecting to see a whole different approach this weekend and to carry a whole new attitude into the game. We have what some believe to be the best one-two punch in the country with Ashley Lewis and Britni Sneed, whichever one is one and whichever one is two. We’re still waiting to find out. Ashley’s fighting a little bout with mono, and she still hasn’t recovered fully, so she’s limited with her pitches and the amount of appearances she gets. Those are two very good pitchers, but they need to step it up a notch right now. I think they are prepared to and we’ll see what happens this weekend. Julie Stashko is our only senior pitcher, and she works well with the others and gives a little unorthodox look coming from the left side changing speeds. She plays the closer role very well. And we’ve got Trena Peel and Dee Douglas who were both very successful high school pitchers. You may see those two periodically throughout the year.
Papania: You spoke earlier that you didn’t feel the team was where you’d like them to be. What is it going to take to reach your goal?
Moore: Jeff Jackson says in his book that there are four stages of team development no matter how many kids you have returning. They are “forming, storming, norming and performing.” I think we are still in the latter stages of storming where we are still moving some kids around. Even though we have leadership, we are still trying to find out who will be the cream that rises to the top, who’s going to say, “Let’s get the job done” and take that type of mentality. I think we need some leaders among our leaders. I hope to be out of this stage by this weekend and we’ll start working towards hopefully peeking. About mid-April is our goal to know the nine that we want to put out on the field. We want to know who our best nine are and not necessarily who are our nine best. We want to know the ones that can work the best together.
Papania: How important is it to have an experienced club?
Moore: It’s definitely important, the approach that we’ve taken prior to having experience is to go out and play the game the way we know how to play it. We have rarely backed down to the more experienced teams. Having been to the regionals, having been in the SEC Championship games, and having competed against some of the top programs in the country are all things the girls can use as bullets. The more bullets you have the better your chances are to win the war.