By C. Kent Lowe
LSU Sports Information
TEMPE, Ariz. — Well, LSUsports.net has sent me back on the road again to bring you a behind the scenes look and my thoughts of things happening at this year’s NCAA Super Regional series between LSU and Arizona State.
First of all, it’s surprisingly windy, almost downright cool and I’m glad I brought a sweater … Oops, those were last week’s notes from my trip to Palo Alto. Seriously, as I write this at 5 p.m. with the air conditioning cranked up as cold as it will go in my hotel room after coming back from three hours at the field, the temperature is 95 degrees with just nine percent humidity.
Can you name the last time the humidity was that low if ever in Baton Rouge?
Your LSU Tigers, as Melissa Foley will tell you in her advance of the series, practiced for two hours and it was hot, no doubt. You can see why most of their Pac-10 games here are played at 7 p.m. like Friday night’s opener will be. But both teams will be tested Saturday in game two at 4:30 p.m. local time.
One thing the LSU training staff and coaches have been stressing is drink plenty of water (a good topic to bring up as I open another diet soft drink) … But it will be important for the LSU team to be well hydrated to be able to play through the weekend.
Farrington Stadium
First of all, I can guarantee you that there will be more than the 299 the regional championship game in Palo Alto drew last Saturday when the first pitch is thrown. That still has me shaking my head. This stadium seats 1,535, the seats are built straight up and from where Patrick Wright and I will call the game, we will have a much higher up perspective than we normally have. But as of Thursday night, just some 500 seats were remaining for the series.
Two other things were readily apparent during the practice, if the flight patterns remain the same, you’ll be hearing lot of jets flying overhead preparing to land at the nearby airport in Phoenix, and, the Tigers will play in one of the smaller parks they have played in this year.
The fence, much higher than last week’s four feet at Stanford, is just 190 down the line and 210 in center field, shorter than Tiger Park, shorter than Stanford and most of the SEC facilities. Will that mean another home run barrage like last time? I doubt it, but it does mean pitchers will have to be careful about leaving the mistake pitch up in the zone. ASU has hit a total of 82 home runs this season.
Emily Turner Has A New Fan
Coach Yvette Girouard received the following email on Thursday and passed it on to us for our report tonight. It says a lot about senior pitcher Emily Turner, but it really could have been any member of this team. That’s just the type of people they are.
Dear Ms. Girouard —
My husband and I were visiting Auburn, Alabama on Saturday, May 12, 2007. I left our hotel room early and went down for some morning tea. Sitting opposite me in the lounge area was a young woman studying history. Her name was Emily Turner.
We struck up a conversation, as I have a daughter her age. When I asked her for suggestions on things to do in Auburn she told me about the championship game being played that day against Florida and said she’d have tickets waiting for us if we wanted to go.
My daughter had played softball in high school and I missed watching it. So, we went and had a fantastic afternoon and so enjoyed watching Emily play and being part of the incredible LSU team and supporter spirit. She was an amazing pitcher.
I was so impressed that a girl who was your starting pitcher, who was also studying for her last final in history and had so much pressure on her would even remember to put our names on a list at the field for admittance. It is obvious she is a very special young woman.
So, I want to say thank you to her and to your school for allowing us to be your guests at such an exciting game. If you could forward my thanks on to Emily it would be so appreciated.
– Nikii Frank
Still Looking For the TV Truck
So, the preparations for the LSU team are pretty much done. The LSU team will watch some video, study Arizona State’s pitching and tendencies, take a run around the hotel area in the a.m. and get ready to play game one.
It is really hard to believe that ESPN declined to pick up this game as one of their Super Regional telecasts. This really deserves to be on. But that means Patrick and I will try to be at our absolute best to bring it to you on the LSU Sports Radio Network. We’ll try to describe everything in as much detail as possible and have a good time in the process.
I honestly can’t say how this one will go. I think LSU is more prepared than a year ago and is more in tune with traveling the long road given them. But that doesn’t mean wins. We’ll see how it all plays out and we’ll have a post-game wrap up on this Super Regional Road late tomorrow night.