Tiger Park still ‘special’ to LSU players

• By WILLIAM WEATHERS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: May 16, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:15 a.m.

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The walk through the gates and a left past the restrooms will start to sink in a little differently for LSU’s seven softball players this weekend.

The time in the batting cages beyond the left-field wall, playing in spacious foul territory and the deep power alleys will no longer be looked at quite the same.

When top-seeded LSU (42-16) faces fourth-seeded Mississippi Valley State (28-26) in the second game of today’s NCAA regional softball tournament at 7 p.m. the at-bats, the outs and innings will become fewer and more precious at venerable Tiger Park.

“It’s certainly special to us,” LSU senior right fielder Quinlan Duhon said. “We go to some other parks and their field’s may be nicer, the stands may be better. But we wouldn’t rather play anywhere else than home. We love this park.”

LSU’s home field for the past 12 years has developed quite a reputation since the school reinstated its softball program in 1997 and constructed a 1,000-seat facility that’s evolved into one of the best home-field advantages in the country.

Consider the numbers through the years at home:

• An 87.3 winning percentage (336-49).
• 80.5 percent in Southeastern Conference play.
• 12-4 in NCAA regional play, including seven consecutive wins.
• 171,796 fans for 385 games.

That LSU has already broken ground and will move into a newer, shinier, more efficient Tiger Park across from the Veterinarian School on Skip Bertman Drive is a testament to the school’s commitment to the program and the continued upward direction it has taken.

“These seven seniors are a big reason why it was built because they continued the success of LSU softball,” LSU coach Yvette Girouard said.

The new facility, which is on schedule to open in February, will have everything a player could envision from the amenities to aesthetics. But that’s not to suggest this year’s team is in a hurry to leave its current home.

“I like looking at things in the old-fashioned way and this is the old-fashioned park for softball,” LSU senior catcher Killian Roessner said. “It’s upgraded, but the way a ball park is. Padded fence, padded backstop, circle in the middle of the field. It’s simple and that’s always the way I’ve liked it.”

Within three years, the park hosted its first NCAA regional in 1999 and year later started developing its own sense of nostalgia.

That’s when LSU and future All-American pitcher Britni Sneed went pitch for pitch against Southern Mississippi and its All-American ace Courtney Blades in a memorable game that was scoreless for 12 innings before the Tigers scored a run in the 13th for a 1-0 heart-stopping victory.

A year later Girouard, whose UL-Lafayette team had defeated LSU 4-1 in 2000, took over the Tigers’ program and promptly remembered her first game in her new surroundings.