BATON ROUGE — LSU head softball coach Yvette Girouard and the Tigers began spring practice on Monday with a two-a-day session in preparation for the season-opening Purple & Gold Challenge Tournament on Feb. 10-12 at Tiger Park.
LSU returns all nine starters, including Easton All-American designated player Lauren Castle and first baseman Stephanie Hill and All-SEC selections outfielder Camille Harris and pitcher Emily Turner.
Among the other returning starters include sophomore second baseman Vanessa Soto, sophomore shortstop Andrea Smith, senior third baseman Lauren Delahoussaye, junior outfielder Leslie Klein, sophomore outfielder Quinlan Duhon, and catchers Killian Roessner and Kristen Hobbs. The Tigers also return a trio of pitchers in Turner, and sophomores Megan Jolly and Tiffany Garcia.
LSU brings in a pair of freshmen, including the Gatorade National Player of the Year Dani Hofer, and Sulphur standout Fallon Fisher, and a sophomore transfer from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Shannon Stein, to join the 16 returning letterwinners.
LSU hit the field for its first practice on Monday morning in Tiger Park. The Tigers will conduct five days of two-a-day practice sessions before going to the regular practice schedule of once a day before the spring semester begins next Tuesday.
The team will open the season on Feb. 10 against Stephen F. Austin at Tiger Park in the Purple & Gold Challenge at 3:30 p.m. The Tigers will then take on Northwestern State, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and South Dakota State before beginning bracket play in the three-day tournament.