LSU softball looks to make up ground in the SEC with road trip to Auburn

The No. 13 LSU softball team will try to make up ground in the Southeastern Conference during a weekend road trip.

The Tigers go to No. 21 Auburn for a three-game series beginning at 5 p.m. Friday. The teams play Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. The first game will be shown on the SEC Network and the finale on ESPN2.

LSU (33-8, 6-6 SEC) is tied for seventh with Alabama and Florida in the conference. Tennessee leads at 10-2, followed by Georgia at 11-3, Arkansas at 9-6, Auburn and Kentucky at 7-5 and Texas A&M at 8-7.

LSU is coming off a loss to No. 1 and reigning national champion Oklahoma on Tuesday at home. Tigers coach Beth Torina said the loss could help LSU down the stretch with four more conference series upcoming.

“If it doesn’t build confidence, then our team didn’t watch the game,” Torina said Tuesday. “I think we showed we can play with them. I think we showed we have a lot of depth in our pitching staff. We have a lot of people that can do some really great things.”

Four LSU pitchers combined to hold the Sooners to two hits, one of which was a two-run homer in the 3-0 win for the Sooners.

LSU leadoff hitter and third baseman Danieca Coffey continues to excel. She had two of LSU’s three hits against Oklahoma and leads the SEC in batting average (.450) and hits (59).

Georgia Clark is coming off a stretch in which she was named SEC player of the week while taking over the team lead with a pair of home runs, giving her nine, 30 RBIs and a team-best 32 walks.

Shortstop Taylor Pleasants, although saddled with a core muscle injury that limits her power, has maintained a .350 batting average and still leads the team with 41 RBIs. In the 11 games since returning from the injury, she is batting .304 with seven hits and five RBIs by bunting and slap hitting. LSU’s .321 team batting average is third in the conference.

Pitcher Sydney Berzon has emerged as one of the top freshmen in the conference with an 11-3 record and a 1.68 ERA while opponents are batting .188 against her. Senior Ali Kilponen has a 10-4 mark with a 2.05 ERA. They have combined for 167 strikeouts. LSU’s team ERA of 1.92 ranks second only to Tennessee in the SEC.