The LSU Tigers' early struggles and almost decade-long Women's College World Series drought intensify scrutiny on Coach Beth Torina as a crucial season unfolds.
The LSU Tigers softball team has made the NCAA tournament every single year possible since Beth Torina was hired back in 2012, but has yet to win a Women's College World Series.
The inability to win the big games and failing to reach the WCWS in almost a decade has had fans calling for a change at the top for a while. Now, a 7-3 start to the year and three losses in the last four games have her on the hot seat early this season.
While Torina isn't in immediate danger of being fired in the middle of the year, another down season could have new athletic director Verge Ausberry ready to make a change once the campaign ends.
This hasn't been a very promising start in an important year. They needed a late rally to beat the NC State Wolfpack in the third game of the season, were shut out against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, lost 5-3 to the Duke Blue Devils and then fell 5-1 to the UCF Golden Knights.
The losses to the Blue Devils and the Cornhuskers were somewhat understandable, but are reminiscent of some of the recent losses that fans were worried about. The games were away from home and against top-25 opponents, but those are the type of games that need to be won in the postseason.
The loss to the Golden Knights was even harder to explain away. Tigers hitters were able to pick up eight hits and drew three walks, but were only able to score one run. Only two of UCF's runs were earned due to two errors in the field, which really came back to bite them. LSU's pitching still gave up 11 hits. Everything was a struggle for the Tigers.
LSU now has a team fielding percentage of .962. They have not finished a season that low since 2016.
There is a lot of season left, but also a lot to fix. They haven't started with three losses in the first 10 games since 2022, which they finished 34-23. A repeat of that would almost certainly have Tigers brass looking elsewhere.
Torina is clearly a great coach. Her teams have won a lot of games. She has a 707-364 overall record as a head coach. The worries about the stagnancy of the program and the inability to reach the top are also valid.
This could prove to be a very important season of LSU softball.