BATON ROUGE – The LSU softball team continued its charge toward the 2011 season and wrapped up its first week of practice with the final of five two-a-day sessions Friday at Tiger Park.
“This has been an incredible first week of practice,” head coach Yvette Girouard said. “We’ve accomplished everything we wanted to. There’s nothing soft about our game. We practiced yesterday with ice on the warning track. As common with our program, our players have earned pennies every day. I continue to be impressed with their attitude and approach, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better from the team.”
LSU brings back 13 letterwinners for the 2011 campaign, but Girouard also has been impressed with a very talented freshmen class.
“The freshmen outfielders have impressed me since the first day of fall workouts,” Girouard said. “Nothing drops in front of Jacee Blades, Alex Boulet and Simone Heyward. They work extremely hard and aren’t intimidated by any situation.”
“Tammy Wray has taken reps at both shortstop and third base due to Jessica Mouse‘s injury,” Girouard continued. “She looks awfully good at both spots. I’m also very happy with the way Meghan Patterson has come back from holiday break.”
LSU will have the weekend off before moving into the second week of practice on Monday. The Tigers also begin classes on Tuesday.
“We’ve had a multitude of reps during these two-a-days, so we’ll get into the finer details of team play next week,” Girouard said. “We’ll work on defensive coverages, our hitters will see more live pitching and we’ll also scrimmage a lot more going forward.”
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 from Feb. 11-13.
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.
Fans can get updated information on the softball team at www.Facebook.com/lsusoftball and on Twitter at Twitter.com/LSU_Softball. Ticket information for a marquee home schedule that features home series with SEC heavyweights Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee is available at www.LSUtix.net.