#17 Taylor Pleasants Season 2020
2024 NFCA South All-Region Third Team
2024 SEC All-Tournament Team
2024 Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll
2024 CSC Academic All-District
2023 NFCA South All-Region First Team
2023 All-SEC Second Team
2023 SEC All-Defensive Team
2023 SEC Player of the Week (2X)
2023 CSC Academic All-District
2023 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll
2022 NFCA South All-Region First Team
2022 All-SEC Second Team
2022 LSWA All-Louisiana First Team
2021-22 NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete
2022 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll
2021 NFCA Second Team All-America
2021 NFCA South All-Region Team
2021 SEC Newcomer of the Year
2021 All-SEC First Team
2021 All-SEC Newcomer Team
2021 LSWA Freshman of the Year
2021 LSWA All-Louisiana First Team
2021 SEC Newcomer of the Week (x2)
2021 SEC Spring Academic Honor Roll
2019-20 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll
2020 Medallion Award
SENIOR SEASON (2024)
Named to the NFCA South All-Region Third Team and placed on the SEC All-Tournament Team. Started in a career-high 61 games … Finished with a .266 batting average with 46 hits, including a team-best 10 home runs and 46 RBIs… Had a .480 slugging percentage and a .407 on-base percentage with a team-high 32 walks…Also scored 27 runs…Led the team with 11 multi-RBI games, including a five-RBI game with her second career grand slam vs Memphis (Feb. 9)…Also had 11 multi-hit games, and opened the season with an 11-game reaching base streak… Has three walk-off hits this season, including two walk-off home runs over Boise State (Feb. 22) and No. 11/12 Texas A&M (March 28). Final walk-off was a hit over No. 20 Alabama (May 8) in a historic 14-inning game… In the field, she led the team with 131 assists, had 98 putouts and helped turn 16 double plays…Her 131 assists ties at No. 8 in the program’s single season record book, and 16 double plays is ties for the fifth most in a single season.
Concluded her LSU career as the program’s all-time leader with 59 double plays turned, and No. 2 with 520 assists…Offensively, she ranks No. 3 all-time with 217 career RBIs, No. 4 with 47 home runs, No. 5 with 119 walks, No. 6 with 416 total bases and 28 hit-by-pitches, No. 8 with a .570 slugging percentage and No. 9 with 46 doubles…Also ranks No. 3 all-time with 60 career multi-RBI games.
JUNIOR SEASON (2023)
Honored to NFCA South All-Region First Team for second consecutive season to become a three-time all-region selection despite battling injuries throughout the season…Garnered third All-SEC selection and first SEC All-Defensive Team selection …Started in all 55 games she appeared in at shortstop…Concluded season with a .346 batting average and led the team with a .562 slugging percentage…Finished with 56 hits, including 11 doubles and eight home runs to go along with a team-high 53 RBIs (No. 8 in SEC) and 35 runs scored…Led the team with 18 multi-RBI games and totaled 14 multi-hit games…Opened the season with seven multiple RBI games by tallying three or more RBIs in five of those games…Paced the team defensively with 118 assists and had 61 putouts while turning 15 double plays…Matched a career-high seven assists at Auburn (April 15)…Won SEC Player of the Week twice…First on Feb. 13 when she opened the season with a .533 batting average and 1.400 slugging percentage behind eight hits, 13 RBIs, four home runs and nine runs scored…Her second was on April 25 when she returned to full strength and hit .615 in the batter’s box with eight hits, scored four runs, had four RBIs and two doubles with a .769 slugging percentage and .643 on-base percentage… Will enter 2024 ranked No. 5 all-time in the LSU record book with a .597 career slugging percentage and 37 career home runs, No. 6 all-time with 171 career RBIs and No. 7 all-time with 389 career assists.
SOPHOMORE SEASON (2022)
Named to the NFCA All-Region First Team and earned All-SEC Second Team honors … Started in all 57 games at shortstop … Hit .295 with 12 home runs and 48 RBI … Led the team with 105 total bases, including 28 extra-base hits that featured 15 doubles (0.26 doubles per game ranked No. 3 in SEC) and one triple for a .597 slugging pct … Logged 14 multiple-hit games, including three or more hits in eight games … Had a stretch of three consecutive games with three hits … Hit two home runs in a single game at McNeese State on April 19 … Turned in 12 multiple RBI games … Went 6-for-11 in a weekend series at Texas A&M, adding eight RBIs, including a career-high six-RBI performance on April 9 … Recorded a 16-game reached base streak and six-game hitting streak … A solid defender in the middle infield, logging a .938 fielding pct and completing … Totaled 107 putouts and a team-high 106 assists … Turned for 12 double plays … Stole three bases on three attempts and had four sacrifice bunts and two sacrifice flies … Prior to the season, Pleasants was selected to the USA Softball National Team.
FRESHMAN SEASON (2021)
Named NFCA All-America second team, NFCA South All-Region team, and is an All-SEC First Team selection … also tabbed SEC Newcomer of the Year, among being named to the All-SEC Newcomer team … Awarded with Newcomer of the Week two times throughout her breakout season … Named to the LSWA All-Louisiana first team … Played and started all 57 games the Tigers played … Hit .316 on the year recording 56 hits in 177 plate appearances … Drove in 40 runs and crushed 10 home runs over the course of the season … Had an outstanding OPS that sat at 1.021 at season’s end … Scored 37 runs and stole three bases in three attempts … Led the team with a .605 slugging percentage and total bases with 107 … Had 88 putouts and 120 assists on the season … On Feb. 25 against UL-Lafayette, her bat was responsible for two of the four runs scored, going 3-for-4 … When the Tigers met the Ragin’ Cajuns in the deciding game of the NCAA regional round, she hit a towering home run to center in the third inning to put her team ahead by two … Had six hits in nine plate appearances in the final SEC weekend against the Auburn Tigers, including a dramatic sixth inning grand slam in the series finale … Finished the year with a 3-for-4 performance in game 2 of the super regional against Florida State, including a go-ahead round-tripper in the top of the 8th inning.
FRESHMAN YEAR (2020) – Season was cut short due to the coronavirus
Started all 24 games for the Tigers at shortstop … Hit .383 on the year, recording 23 hits, 21 RBI and 23 runs scored … Finished with a .530 on-base percentage and a .667 slugging percentage … She tallied four home runs on the year, with her first career home run to walk off No. 13 Oklahoma State on Feb. 7 … Walked 19 times on the season which was tied for second in the SEC … Earned SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 10 after leading the entire SEC in batting average in the first weekend at .692 … Had a 1.077 slugging percentage and a .765 slugging percentage to go along with a 9-for-13 performance with two doubles, a home run, five runs scored, four RBI and four walks in the first weekend of play … Also had three doubles and one triple on the year … Finished with 21 putouts and 45 assists at shortstop … Had back-to-back 3-for-3 games against No. 13 Oklahoma State and Florida A&M on Feb. 8 & 9, tallying three RBI and two runs scored against Florida A&M … Second home run of the season came on Feb. 16 against No. 13 ULL which helped the Tigers take a 1-0 lead … Her third home run came against Campbell, which also gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead … Scored four runs against Sam Houston State on Feb. 22 … Finished the year with a 3-for-3 performance, including a home run and four RBI against South Alabama on March 10.
HIGH SCHOOL
An infielder who comes to the Tigers from J. Frank Dobie High School in Houston, Texas where she became a four-time First Team All-District infielder, earned a spot on the All-State, and the All-Star team … She led her team to three-straight Top 5 finishes in the district, earned team MVP during her junior season, and Defensive Player of the Year her sophomore season … During her senior season she hit .600 with 16 doubles, 6 triples, 8 homeruns, 50 RBI, and 23 stolen bases … As a junior she hit .589 with 45 RBI, 43 hits, 12 doubles, and six home runs with a .692 on-base percentage … Along with these softball accomplishments Pleasants was also a decorated volleyball player … She played travel ball with the Scrap Yard International team where she had a very distinguished career … Pleasants spent the summer of 2019 playing for the USA Junior National team where she was a 2019 WBSC U-19 Women’s Softball World Cup Gold Medalist, hitting for a .268 average, with three RBI and three runs scored … She also played in the 2019 USA Softball International Cup where she earned a bronze medal hitting .200 and three RBI. She is also a four-time Honor Student, earning First Team All-Academic for the past four years.
PERSONAL
Full name Taylor Tress Pleasants, born September 8 in Pasadena, Texas … Parents are Chris and Milady Pleasants … Siblings are Jacquelyn, John, and Austin … Plans to major in Kinesiology