Washington RHP/1B Kelley Lynch commits to LSU

Washington right-handed pitcher and first basemen Kelley Lynch has committed to play for the LSU Tigers, she announced via Instagram on Saturday. The two-way player will be making her way to Baton Rouge, electing to continue her softball career in the SEC.

Lynch played in 57 games throughout the 2023 season, with 26 coming from the circle. She finished with a 2.43 ERA over 77.2 innings pitched, walking 40 batters and striking out 101. Just seven opposing hitters were able to connect on home runs against Lynch.

The numbers are just as impressive when Lynch stepped into the box. In 105 plate appearances, she finished with a .729 OPS with three home runs and 20 RBIs.

Lynch is now set to join an LSU program that enjoyed success last season. They were the No. 10 national seed in the NCAA Tournament, hosting in Baton Rouge. While they were not able to advance to a Super Regional, it was a good run for the Tigers.

Now, adding somebody with the versatility of someone like Lynch significantly improves the roster. A huge pick-up for head coach Beth Torina.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.