Daily News sports reporter John Reid has reported that rising sophomore Carley Hoover is transferring to LSU to continue her softball career. Reid tweeted that Hoover had made the announcement on Twitter, with Hoover also announcing her intentions to transfer on Facebook and Instagram.
The loss of Hoover is certainly a significant blow to the Cardinal softball program, as Hoover was the 2013 Gatorade Player of the Year as a high school senior at D.W. Daniel High. Hoover was a huge pick up for the Cardinal program when she signed with Stanford, as the Clemson, South Carolina native was rated as the No. 1 softball recruit in the country in many recruiting polls. Hoover had a 0.15 ERA as a senior in high school with a 16-4 record in 138 innings; the 2012 and 2013 Max-Preps All-American also hit .500 with 28 homers in her high school senior season.
However, in her first year on the Farm, Hoover had an adversity-filled season. After going 2-0 at the season-opening Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona, Hoover exited her only home start on the Farm after pitching only 2.0 innings in a 7-3 win over Bradley. Hoover would miss the rest of the season with what ESPN broadcaster Jessica Mendoza called a pectoral injury.
The Cardinal pitching staff suffered mightily without Hoover, as fellow freshman Madi Schreyer and a rotation of position players would have to hold the pitching staff together for the rest of the season. As a result, after starting the year 13-0, the Card faded in conference play as the depleted pitching staff wore down; Stanford would finish with a 5-19 record in Pac-12 play and missed the postseason for the first time since 1997.
Hoover joins an LSU squad that had a strong 2014 campaign; the Bayou Bengals went 38-24 last season with a 13-11 mark in regular-season SEC play. The Lady Tigers lost in the Tucson Regional to Arizona in a decisive game 7. Hoover will join a staff that returns two fellow rising sophomores in Kelsee Selman and Baylee Corbello.
With Hoover’s decision to transfer to LSU, newly hired head coach Rachel Hanson will likely rely on a young and relatively thin staff in 2015. However, the pitching staff may not have to do much to support an experienced Cardinal lineup, as several seniors could highlight another high-powered offense next spring.
Stanford’s 2015 softball campaign will begin in February.
Contact David Cohn at dmcohn ‘at’ stanford.edu.