BATON ROUGE – The LSU softball program released its 2011 schedule Tuesday as announced by head coach Yvette Girouard. The Tigers have had a long-standing reputation of facing a challenging slate and 2011 will be no different.
LSU has 24 games on-tap against 2010 NCAA Regional teams highlighted by nine contests versus a quartet of Women’s College World Series squads.
“We’re very excited about our 2011 schedule, the home portion in particular,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “Our scheduling philosophy has always been that you have to beat the best to become the best. We look forward to the difficult task ahead and there’s no doubt that our schedule will test us for where we want to go this season.”
For the first time since the 2008 season, LSU will spend opening weekend inside the friendly confines of Tiger Park. Bowling Green, Louisiana Tech and Purdue head to the Capitol City as part of the Wilson/DeMarini Tiger Classic [Feb. 11-13].
2011 LSU Softball Schedule | Season Tickets
The Tigers hit the road for the first of back-to-back weekends at the Hilton Plaza Classic [Feb. 18-20] in Houston, Texas. LSU faces tournament host Houston twice along with Nicholls State, Oklahoma State and Southern.
Up next is the prestigious Cathedral City Classic [Feb. 25-27] in Palm Springs, Calif., where the Tigers square off with Arizona and California, a pair of Pac-10 powers, in addition to tilts with Fordham and Cal Poly.
“Our weekend in Palm Springs rivals none other especially when you face three NCAA Tournament teams in a weekend,” Girouard said. “We also recruit heavily in California and it will be a special for the four Californians on our roster.”
The Tigers returns home to welcome Hofstra, Pittsburgh and Texas for the Tiger Purple & Gold Challenge [March 4-6] to wrap up the non-conference tournament schedule.
LSU also has midweek home-and-home series against McNeese State [Feb. 23 & April 13], Nicholls State [March 23 & April 6], Southeastern Louisiana [Feb. 16 & March 29] and Southern Miss [March 16 & April 27] on the docket.
A new wrinkle in the 2011 schedule is the SEC format. Like baseball, weekend series will have single games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
LSU embarks on league action against three-time defending regular season champion Florida [March 9] before traveling to WCWS participant Georgia [March 11-13].
The Tigers also play host to NCAA Tournament heavy hitters Kentucky [March 18-20], Alabama [April 8-10] and Tennessee [April 15-17] before concluding the regular season against South Carolina [May 6-8].
The Purple and Gold have conference road trips to SEC West foes Arkansas [April 1-3], Auburn [April 20], Ole Miss [April 22-24] and Mississippi State [April 29-May 1].
“Every SEC series is a battle, each team gives one other their best shot week in and week out,” Girouard said. “We’re fired up about the new three-game weekend format. Having the likes of Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and South Carolina visit the Capitol City will provide entertaining Softball on the Berm for our fans.”
LSU earned a runner-up finish at the SEC Tournament en route to a 45-16 finish, its 10th season with at least 45 victories since softball was reinstated in 1997. The Tigers also reeled off a program-best 24-game winning streak and recorded their 12th NCAA Regional appearance in 2010.