No. 5 LSU Heads to Cali to Participate in the 2025 Judi Garman Classic
LSU will have five games against five different opponents, beginning with a top-five contest against No. 4 UCLA.
BATON ROUGE, La. – For the first time in the 2025 season, No. 5/6 LSU hits the road for a few games away from Tiger Park. The Tigers will play five games in the Judi Garman Classic on Feb. 27-March 1 at Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif.
The classic will begin with a top-5 matchup between No. 5 LSU (14-0) and No. 4 UCLA (14-2) on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. CT, before facing tournament host Cal State Fullerton (11-5) at 7 p.m. CT to conclude day one. The next day, LSU will face Utah (4-12) at 11:30 a.m. CT and Notre Dame (8-7) at 2 p.m. CT. The Tigers will conclude the weekend with an 11 a.m. CT contest against Weber State (4-11) on March 1.
This weekend, only Thursday night’s game against Cal State Fullerton will be streamed on ESPN+. Live stats will be provided for each LSU game and can be accessed on the softball team’s schedule page on lsusports.net. Fans can view the full schedule for the Judi Garman Classic here.
It has been a dominant start to the season for LSU as it ranks No. 4 in the country with a .391 batting average and No. 3 in the nation with a .486 on-base percentage. The Tigers have 134 hits and 100 RBI this season and have outscored its opponents 115-20. Inside the circle, LSU ranks third in Division I Softball with a 1.29 ERA behind 98 strikeouts and a .180 opposing batting average in 87.0 innings. The Tigers also ranked fourth in the SEC with a .997 fielding percentage.
Infielder Danieca Coffey is this week’s SEC Player of the Week and is currently on a 24-game hitting streak dating back to last season. Coffey leads LSU with 22 hits, a .579 batting average and a .685 on-base percentage – all of which rank inside the top 10 of the SEC. She is joined offensively by catcher Maci Bergeron and utility player Tori Edwards, who have combined for seven of LSU’s nine home runs this season, and both have a .857 slugging percentage. Bergeron has 17 hits, 14 runs and 12 RBI, and Edwards has 19 hits, 15 runs and 23 RBI. Edwards also has two grand slams on the season.
Pitcher Sydney Berzon leads the staff with a 5-0 record and has a 1.21 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 29.0 frames. Jayden Heavener is 3-0 and was honored twice as the SEC Freshman of the Week. Heavener ranks No. 8 in the conference with 41 strikeouts and a 2.15 ERA in 26.0 innings.
LSU has a combined record of 14-12 against its weekend opponents. It is 3-8 against UCLA all-time, but the teams have split the last four contests evenly. LSU and UCLA last played each other in 2018, which resulted in a 9-1 loss for the Tigers.
LSU is 5-2 against Cal State Fullerton and has won four of the last five games. The previous game, however, was a 3-2 victory for the Titans in the 2022 Tempe Regional. The Tigers are 4-1 against Utah, including its last two wins over the Utes at the 2023 Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge.
LSU holds a 3-1 advantage over Notre Dame but fell 6-1 in 2022 in Clearwater, Fla. LSU and Weber State will meet for the first time Sunday.
For the latest news and information on Tiger softball, visit www.lsusports.net/softball. Fans can follow the team on its social media outlets, such as www.facebook.com/lsusoftball and @lsusoftball, as well as on Instagram and X.