Last in a seven-part softball series previewing the 2007 season leading up to the season-opening Easton Tiger Classic Tournament at Tiger Park on Feb. 9-11.
BATON ROUGE — Never shying away from tough competition, the LSU softball team will once again face a challenging schedule in 2007.
With 21 games against teams that participated in NCAA Regional play last season, the Tigers will be put to the test as LSU pursues a third Women’s College World Series berth.
The Tigers open the season at home in the three-day Easton Tiger Classic. At the Houston Crowne Plaza Classic, LSU will take on Houston, Indiana, Missouri State, Southern Illinois and Texas State. The Tigers will once again host the Easton Purple & Gold Challenge at Tiger Park. The final preconference tournament of the year is at the Washington.
“The pre-conference schedule is an attractive, RPI-boosting, representation of the countries conferences,” said LSU head coach Yvette Girouard. “We have some new names gracing Tiger Park and we travel to a very good Houston tournament with an exciting trip to Seattle. This schedule should prepare us for the rigors of the highly competitive SEC.”
In addition, the Tigers will host non-conference games against Alcorn State, Texas-San Antonio and in-state rivals Centenary, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana and UL-Monroe.
The biggest change to the schedule this year takes place during the SEC regular season. The league has shortened the schedule from 30 games to 28. The two mid-week series have now been shortened to doubleheaders. In 2007, the Tigers will have these doubleheader series against Mississippi State and Kentucky.
“The change in the SEC this year is that the midweek partner is a doubleheader, cutting SEC games down to 28,” said Girouard. “The coaches all believe that this will help our RPI, free up some out of conference scheduling and prevent the sister schools from constantly beating up on each other.”
In SEC action, the Tigers open league play on the road at Ole Miss. LSU will also take on Auburn, Mississippi State, Arkansas and Georgia on the road. At home, LSU will host Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina and 2006 Women’s College World Series participants Alabama and Tennessee.
“Our home SEC schedule spotlights some great programs in Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina and preseason favorite Tennessee,” said Girouard.