During fall drills when the shrill of LSU softball coach Yvette Girouard's voice wasn't always pleasant and practices were taxing, the Tigers were asked not to dwell on the moment but rather think ahead.
Fast-forward six months later and the time is now for No. 5 LSU (27-7, 12-2), which opens the first of four straight Southeastern Conference road series at 6 p.m. today against Arkansas (25-14, 6-6) at Lady'Back Yard.
Both games of the doubleheader can be head on WJNH (107.3-FM). The third game of the series is set for 6 p.m., Wednesday.
"It's not like it's sprung up on us," Girouard said. "We've talked about this since last fall. We talked about the schedule when practices weren't going well. We told them it was going to get us ready for what was going to happen at Arkansas and Alabama during crunch time. Payback can be tough and they'll be waiting for us."
Because of Arkansas' weather-related travel problems from a weekend series at Florida, LSU will be waiting on the Lady'Backs who weren't expected home until midnight.
After Arkansas, LSU will visit to SEC Western Division leader Alabama (30-11, 13-2) on Saturday and later go to Kentucky (16-18, 1-8) and Ole Miss (20-11, 3-6). It will mark LSU's longest road swing of the entire season.
The Tigers own a series record of 20-3 over the Lady'Backs.
"Last year we had a 10-day road trip that was the turning point of our season last season," Girouard said of a swing from South Carolina to Georgia. "I hear it's a tough place to play and they have rabid fans. I think they kids are going to welcome the challenge."
LSU's riding a season-high winning streak of seven games, capped by a three-game sweep of No. 21 Georgia.
LSU's All-American pitchers Britni Sneed (15-4, 1.18 earned run average) and Kristin Schmidt (9-3, 1.21) lead the SEC's top pitching staff against one of the league's worst offensive clubs.
Sneed, who is 9-0 with a 0.63 ERA in SEC play, has 215 strikeouts in 131 innings. She needs five more to move up to ninth on the NCAA's all-time list.
Arkansas ranks next-to-last in hitting at .245. Shortstop Cortney Mitchell is the team's lone player batting more than .300 with a .325 average, seven homers and 22 RBIs.
Senior Rachel Talley (12-4, 1.09) and sophomore Heather Schlichtman (10-6, 1.42) combine to give the Lady'Backs one of the SEC's top pitching duos behind LSU. Senior center fielder Trena Peel continues to lead LSU offensively with a .404 average, 10 triples and 23 RBIs.
"They understand that they have to take care of business each and every game," Girouard said.
NOTES: Second baseman April Janzen is expected to sit out the series with Arkansas after suffering a deep bruise on her left ankle in Sunday's 4-1 win over Georgia. She will be replaced by Sara Fitzgerald. ... Former Lafayette-St. Thomas More teammates, Leigh Ann Danos of LSU and Stephanie Hunter of Arkansas, will meet as foes for the first time today.
