BATON ROUGE, La. – LSU softball received a No. 12 ranking in Softball America’s 2024 Preseason Poll.
The Bayou Bengals return 18 letter winners from a season ago, including an All-American, a Gold Glove winner, five NFCA South All-Region First Team selections, and six All-SEC honorees.
Last season, LSU reached the NCAA Tournament for the 17th consecutive year, marking the program’s 24th appearance overall. The Tigers were 42-17 in 2023 to log the program’s sixth 40-plus win season in nine years.
LSU led the SEC last season with 489 hits and had a .312 batting average, which ranked No. 3 in the league. The Tigers pitching staff had a 2.09 ERA, which was No. 3 in the SEC, and defensively had a .975 fielding percentage, ranking No. 2 in the program’s single-season record book, and had the fewest errors in program history at 41.
Highlighting this season’s returners are NFCA All-American pitcher Sydney Berzon and two-time back-to-back Gold Glove winner outfielder Ciara Briggs. Berzon became the program’s first All-American freshman pitcher since 2015, while Briggs is the only back-to-back Gold Glove award winner in softball history – collegiate or professionally. In LSU history, Briggs joins LSU baseball’s Zach Watson (2018, 2019) as the only two-time back-to-back Gold Glove award winners.
LSU will open the season versus Nicholls at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday, Feb. 8, at Tiger Park, before hosting the LSU Invitational Feb. 9-11 when they welcome Memphis and Pittsburgh.
For the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can follow the team on its social media outlets at www.facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsusoftball on Instagram and X.