As the 2024 college softball season approaches, preseason polls are coming up from the major outlets.
D1 Softball has taken over as the top outlet in college softball, very similar to what its baseball counterpart, D1 Baseball, has done in recent years.
According to D1 Softball’s preseason poll, the LSU Tigers come in at #17 while the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns will start the season at #21.
Both programs had strong seasons a year ago as the Tigers hosted a regional at Tiger Park before falling to the Cajuns in a winner-take-all thriller. Beth Torina’s squad finished 42-17 on the season.
For the Cajuns, 2023 started off business as usual. Playing one of the toughest schedules in the conference, Gerry Glasco’s group finished 50-16 on the season with a trip to the Super Regionals, falling to Washington 2-0 in that series. However, the Cajuns won 40 or more games for the 24th consecutive season and will look to add another conference championship to the ever-growing trophy case at Lamson Park.
Louisiana opens their season with the Louisiana Classics tournament featuring Chattanooga, Cal, and New Mexico February 8-11, while LSU will start with Nicholls on the 8th before welcoming Memphis and Pitt to Tiger Park for the LSU Invitational the 9-11 of February.