In the first of a three-part series previewing the 2016 LSU softball season, LSUsports.net sets up the season and gives an outlook on the pitchers and catchers.
So what do you do for an encore?
In 2015 the LSU softball program went on a run for the ages, setting a new LSU athletic department record for wins to start a campaign at 25 and ending up with 50 wins for the first time since 2007. The Tigers reached its goal of qualifying for the Women’s College World Series for the fourth time in program history, finishing third overall.
But in an age of ever-increasing goals and aspirations, the 2016 version of the Tigers are asking one simple question.
“What’s ‘Next?’”
The embodiment of this year’s motto will come from the overwhelming desire to go beyond what the group did last year and take on all-comers this season with a goal greater than just making it back to Oklahoma City.
“It’s about taking our game to the next level and not dwelling on the past,” said head coach Beth Torina, who is entering her fifth season at the helm of the program. “We’re really trying to reinvent ourselves, and making sure we’re focusing on the next at bat, next game, while making sure we’re focused on being in the moment.”
To do that, LSU will see virtually all of its production at key spots return to the fold this season, with 16 letterwinners, seven everyday starters and three pitchers combining to produce over 80 percent of the team’s offense, defense and pitching statistics from a year ago.
“I think it’s really important that we approached this season with adding as many versatile pieces to the team to make the whole better,” Torina said. “Whether it was a pitcher that had a better location, or a hitter that can cover both sides of the plate, we’ve really just tried to up our game both individually and as a team as a whole.”
Going into the new year, the Tigers will look to begin the year the way they ended it, finishing fourth in both major polls after finishing in third place at the WCWS in OKC last June. The Tigers earned its first No. 1 ranking, a spot it held for multiple weeks during the year, while facing the second-toughest schedule in the nation.
“We understand that this game is not played on paper, and we realize how good this team was last year, but if anything last year showed that it is a game of inches,” Torina said. “We were nearly removed from our own regional on that Saturday, but instead ended up third in the Women’s College World Series. But, it’s exciting to know that you have a team that is capable of competing for the highest accomplishments in the sport.”
The friendly confines of Tiger Park will serve as the backdrop for more than two-thirds of the team’s regular season games this season, as the squad will play 21 of the first 26 games in Baton Rouge, hosting three tournaments and the first SEC series of the year against Alabama. In all, 37 games will be hosted by LSU, including series’ against Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina and ending the year with a non-conference tilt against Washington.
“Not only are we going to have an opportunity for our fans to see great softball, but to see what this group is capable of,” Torina said. “We have the best fans in the country and they make Tiger Park a tough place to play if you’re opposing team, and their support last year really helped propel us to the Women’s College World Series.”
The Battery
Going into last year, the Tigers went into the year with one of its most heralded pitching groups not seen since the early days of the program since it was restarted back in the late 90’s. While untested with only two pitchers returning and four on the roster, the move to add power and depth proved to be one of the biggest factors in the team’s run last season, holding the ninth-lowest earned run average in the nation in 2015 at 1.84.
The returning pieces of the battery consist of three All-Americans, a first team All-SEC performer and the addition of a two-time prep award winning pitcher to the fold for the upcoming season.
In her first season after transferring from Stanford, Carley Hoover returned to the circle and showed why she was the top recruit coming out of D.W. Daniel High School, as the 6-foot-2 right-handed pitcher was a second team All-American after leading the LSU pitching staff in wins (18), earned run average (1.78), appearances (35), innings pitched (169.0), strikeouts (174), complete games (15) and saves (5), while finishing tied for first in shutouts (6) and starts (22).
Hoover had 18 games with five or more strikeouts, with four double-digit strikeout contests during the campaign, including being a Top 10 finalist for the NFCA National Freshman of the Year Award, during a year in which she was the most valuable player of the Baton Rouge Regional and a first team All-SEC selection.
Moving straight out of high school to the collegiate level, Allie Walljasper assimilated into the faster pace by appearing in 26 games in the circle for LSU, leading the team in fewest walks allowed (30) and fewest earned runs allowed (34), while finishing second on the team in wins with 16, innings pitched with 130.1, earned run average at 1.83, complete games with 13 and strikeouts with 97.
The Manteca, California, native earned the best start by a true freshman pitcher in program history, winning her first nine games as she was named the pitcher of the month by the LSWA, was one of 25 initial finalists for the nation’s top freshman award and earning third team All-America honors.
Easily the most experienced pitcher returning to the fold in the spring is junior Baylee Corbello. Now in her third year on the team, the Louisiana native has 28 career wins through two seasons after going 9-2 last year with a 2.36 ERA. Corbello holds the distinction as the only pitcher on the staff that has thrown a career no-hitter, doing so last March at home against Northwestern State, while gritting out a three-hit shutout on the road in the cold at Kentucky last season to avoid a sweep in Lexington.
The newest Tiger to enter the circle this season was a two-time Minnesota Gatorade Softball Player of the Year in Sydney Smith, a native of Maple Grove. As a senior, Smith was 20-1 overall with a save in the circle, holding an earned run average below 0.20, with three no-hitters and a perfect game to her credit, batting .520 at the plate on the season as she also set the school’s home run record.
Finishing the season carrying much of the bulk of the catching duties, senior Kellsi Kloss returns for her final season in Purple and Gold looking to improve upon her first team All-SEC honors from a year ago. Kloss played in all 66 games in 2015, catching each of the final 13 games of the year. She hit .317 on the year with a personal-best 13 home runs, none more thrilling than drilling the go-ahead grand slam against Florida to give LSU the win in game two of the series.
Returning to the position along with Kloss is sophomore Sydney Loupe and veteran junior Sahvanna Jaquish, who started all 66 games for the Tigers last season, seeing action 17 times at the catcher position.
A newcomer to the group who will serve in a utility role behind the plate is freshman Taylor Satchell. A multi-year letterwinner out of Notre Dame of Crowley, Satchell helped led her team to a pair of district titles and a state runner-up finish in 2013. She was a four-time all-district and all-parish first team selection, as in her final two seasons she was named to the All-Acadiana team and all-state first team.
While serving as added depth to the stable of catchers at LSU, Satchell also has experience both playing in the infield and the outfield during her prep career to add to the depth at those positions as well.