With the Baton Rouge regional beginning today, it's a good time to take at each of the four teams competing.
No. 8 LSU (44-11, 15-9 SEC)
At the plate: The Tigers can hit for both power and speed. Junior Bianka Bell leads the Tigers with a .459 batting average and 35 extra base hits (16 of them home runs). Sophomore third baseman Sahvanna Jaquish holds the Tigers' single-season home run record with 17, though has just five in conference play. Senior outfielder A.J. Andrews is one of the fastest players in the country with eight triples (fourth in NCAA) and is 20 for 21 on stolen base attempts. Slap-hitting outfielders Emily Griggs and Bailey Landry also put pressure on opposing defenses.
On the mound: The main reason for the Tigers' improvement in 2015 has to do with a deep pitching staff led by freshmen Allie Walljasper (13-5, 1.76 ERA) and Carley Hoover (14-4, 1.85 ERA). Hoover, a transfer from Stanford, was the 2013 Gatorade National Player of the Year. Additionally, sophomores Baylee Corbello (9-2, 2.36 ERA) and Kelsee Selman (8-0, 1.66 ERA) have seen considerable action, and all four LSU pitchers have between 10 and 18 starts, but LSU will likely rely on its freshmen in the postseason. In a time when pitchers have struggled to keep up with hitters' improvement, LSU has bucked the trend.
Outlook: At multiple points in the season LSU was the No. 1 team in the country after taking two of three from now-No. 1 Florida and two from 11th-seeded Oklahoma. The Tigers were on a 25-game winning streak. Times have changed and they have lost six of their past eight SEC games, against tough competition, including their first one in the SEC Tournament. Make no mistake though, LSU has a plethora of young talent and its pitching depth will difficult for any team to match up against.
No. 23 ASU (34-20, 12-11 Pac-12)
At the plate: The Sun Devils’ struggles this season were not because of their offense. ASU has four batters with double-digit home runs (infielders Bethany Kemp, Haley Steele and Chelsea Gonzales and catcher Amber Freeman). The Sun Devils' lineup is a veteran group with five senior starters, two juniors and two sophomores. ASU strikes out fewer than any team in the country, per ASU. Junior outfielder Jennifer Soria is beginning to heat up at the plate with eight hits in her past 17 at-bats, including four home runs. The Sun Devils don't have a lot of speed on the bases, outside of Soria, with just 12 stolen bases on the season.
On the mound: ASU has relied on two freshman pitchers all season, and its season ERA climbed to 4.46, which is more than twice what it was the prior season. Breanna Macha (16-11, 3.98 ERA) has become ASU’s top pitcher this year, but has allowed 41 home runs. In conference play Dale Ryndak (14-8, 5.08 ERA) has allowed more earned runs than innings pitched. Junior Alexis Cooper (3-1, 5.19 ERA) hasn’t pitched much this season, but picked up the win against UCLA after throwing 5.1 innings of one-run ball.
Outlook: ASU endured a down regular season, losing 20 games for the first time since 2005. But this is the postseason where records are wiped out. ASU has postseason experience in just about every spot but pitcher, which is the most important position. The lineup has postseason pedigree, albeit a sour one, from losing a home regional in 2014, but five starters played in the Women's College World Series.
Nebraska (34-21, 17-6 Big Ten)
At the plate: Nebraska has a balanced lineup with just two regular starters hitting below .300. Junior Kiki Stokes improved her batting average more than 100 points from her sophomore year and is tied for the team lead in home runs (11) and leads it in steals (17), on base percentage (.534) and slugging (.707). Sophomore Marjani Knighten, a unanimous First Team All-Big Team selection, leads the Huskers with a .417 batting average and has started every game at third base. As a team, Nebraska ranks 18th in batting average (.342) and 14th in scoring (7.1).
On the mound: Like ASU, it's not hard to figure out why Nebraska took a step back in 2015 -- pitching issues. The Huskers graduated Tatum Edwards (70-27, 2.02 ERA), who took them to the Women's College World Series in 2013 and Emily Lockman (18-12, 4.26 ERA) regressed while taking over the team's No. 1 role. Lockman has been better of late – in her past 15 appearances she has a 2.44 ERA but has just 31 strikeouts to 27 walks in that time. Sophomore Cassie McClure (9-3, 4.41 ERA) has five saves for the Huskers.
Outlook: A month ago, it was hard to see Nebraska getting into the tournament. The Huskers were 20-18 with some bad out-of-conference results. Since then they have won 14 of 17 games entering the NCAA Tournament, although it helps that Nebraska plays in a relatively weak Big Ten conference. The Huskers have played the underdog role before, defeating No. 3 seed Oregon in the Super Regionals in 2013 and coming out of the Columbia, Missouri, regional in 2014 despite being unseeded.
Texas Southern (25-16, 14-3 SWAC)
At the plate: Texas Southern isn't a major threat to hit the long ball with just 26 on the season. The Lady Tigers have five starters hitting above .350, led by Thomasina Garza's .445 clip with seven home runs. Jessica Miller (.397, 28 stolen bases) has more than half of the team's stolen bases.
On the mound: Texas Southern uses an array of pitchers, so it's hard to say who will get the ball for them in the regional. Five pitchers have started in conference play. Jasmin Fulmore (9-1, 2.24 ERA) has seen the most success, while Madison Staton (5-2, 3.10 ERA) and Sammantha Jimenez (7-4, 3.81 ERA) are might see action as well.
Outlook: Even for a No. 4 seed, Texas Southern looks like a lightweight. It has the worst RPI of any team in the tournament. It hasn't been tested all that much this season (No. 291 strength-of-schedule), losing to Texas 4-0 and 5-3 in its only games against the RPI top 100. Of Texas Southern's 25 wins, four of them are against non-Division I schools and only one is against the RPI top 200 (there are 295 ranked teams). Texas Southern has won the SWAC automatic bid in back-to-back seasons but was bounced in two games in Louisiana Lafayette's regional in 2014.
Reach the reporter at jmjanss1@asu.edu or follow @jjanssen11 on Twitter
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