Let’s chat about softball, shall we?

On Tuesday, LSU won yet again, defeating Kent State 8-0. The game was decided quickly, as it only lasted five innings. The Tigers ‘walked it off’ via run-rule after Amanda Doyle smacked a three-run homer over the left field fence. She was not the only Tiger to go deep on Tuesday. Star slugger Shelbi Suseri hit yet another long ball, this one of the two-run variety in the third inning. It’s Sunseri’s ninth home run on the year. That’s tied for the lead in the conference with Mia Davidson of Mississippi State. Meanwhile, Maribeth Gorsuch pitched five scoreless innings to take her ERA down to 1.19. She’s now 4-0 on the season, although she continues to struggle with issuing walks. She let up three on the evening to the Golden Flashes, bringing her total to 18.

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

Presbyterian vs. Georgia (6 p.m.)
Coastal Carolina vs. South Carolina (6 p.m.)
Ole Miss vs. Central Arkansas (6 p.m.)
Mississippi State vs. Memphis (7 p.m.)
Texas A&M vs. Houston (7 p.m.)
Alabama vs. UAB (7 p.m.)
Florida vs. UCLA (9 p.m.)

Unfortunately, none of the seven matchups being played on Wednesday will be available on any type of ESPN streaming service. Which is a shame in one particular case, that being the last game of the day. The Florida Gators and UCLA Bruins are set to begin the Judi Garman Classic against one another. This particular meeting between the Gators and Bruins will pit the #3 and #2 teams in the nation against one another. This should be a legitimately great game, it’s just unfortunate that no one can watch (Of course you can on FloSoftball, but that’s an entirely different deal).

Elsewhere, before the Easton Crimson Classic kicks off this weekend, the 15-0 Alabama Crimson Tide play the UAB Blazers in Birmingham. The Tide are ranked 5th in the nation and have been spurred by the pitching of freshman Montana Fouts. Fouts won her second SEC Freshman of the Week honor after dazzling performances a week ago and hopes to continue that success this week.

Prior to the Bulldog Classic, 8th-ranked Georgia plays Presbyterian in Athens in a midweek clash. The Bulldogs are led by the bat of Alyssa DiCarlo, who has shown off plenty of pop in her bat this year. She’s second in the conference in home runs with eight of them on the young season. Expect her to have the spotlight on her again in this encounter.

The fourth and final ranked team to play on Wednesday are the South Carolina Gamecocks. Cayla Drotar, Jana Johns and the Gamecocks will host Coastal Carolina prior to going down to Tampa for the USF Invitational this weekend. The Gamecocks are 11-2 on the year and have won eight in a row after sweeping their way through the Charlotte First Pitch Classic this past weekend. The aforementioned Johns is now leading the conference in BA with a mark of .543 after a torrid weekend of action. She’s slugging over 1.100 as well, as she’s doing it all right now for the Gamecocks.

Last we saw Mississippi State, they split games against Georgia Tech and Alcorn State. On Wednesday, the Bulldogs are back in action, as they hit the road to face the Memphis Tigers. This is State’s first true road game of the year and they’ll face a 5-8 Memphis squad that has struggled to get it going out of the gate. State should be able to handle this task, as the Duke Invitational looms this weekend.

The 9-5 Texas A&M Aggies are back in action on Wednesday. After a tough weekend out west, in which they went 1-2 against Cal Poly, Arizona State and Oregon, the Aggies are heading to H-Town. They’ll be playing the 11-5 Houston Cougars, who’ve won their last seven in a row heading into this matchup on Wednesday. They have been spurred by the bat of Lindsey Stewart and tremendous pitching from Presley Bell and Savannah Heebner. The Ags will have their hands full in this Lone Star State showdown, to say the very least.

Finally, the Ole Miss Rebels will look to bump their record up from 8-6 and avoid getting closer to the .500 mark. In order to do so, they will have to dispatch the 9-6 Central Arkansas Bears. The Bears snapped a two-game losing streak this past weekend with a win over Jackson State, and have won four of their last six contests. Cylla Hill and Erin Blackburn as well as Kaylyn Shepherd will be the bats to watch for the Bears in this contest. Look for Jessica Puk to try to keep things going as she leads the Rebels in BA (.412), OBP (.512) and SLG (.765).