Playing NCAA Division I softball isn’t enough for Char Lorenz.

The 2023 Munster graduate wants to win too.

So Lorenz had a conversation with her family after her redshirt freshman season at Louisville ended in the first round of the ACC Tournament in early May.

“I gave up my summer and a lot of other things that normal kids would do if they weren’t playing this sport,” she said. “So I wanted to see if there was an option for me to make a postseason run and make an impact on a team that could do that.”

Lorenz, who led Louisville (26-25) in nearly every notable offensive category while playing mostly in left field, entered the transfer portal, and the response surprised her.

“It was a lot more than I ever thought it was going to be,” she said. “It was hard to navigate, and I was really struggling with it. But I knew what I wanted in a school: a competitive program, a competitive environment, coaches who were going to push me, and to be in the postseason to make a postseason run.”

But a familiar name emerged during the process, which ended when Lorenz committed to LSU in June. Bryce Neal had recruited her to Louisville before he became an assistant for the Tigers (42-16), who recently played in the NCAA Tournament for the 18th consecutive season. Neal believes Lorenz’s skills will be advantageous in the SEC.

“There were a few components of her game that stood out, like her positional versatility, her high contact rate and her line drive rate, along with her ability to hit the rise ball because the SEC is a rise ball-dominant league,” Neal said.

Lorenz is coming off a season in which she was named a freshman All-American by both D1Softball and Softball America. She batted .368 with a 1.130 OPS, 11 doubles, five triples, nine home runs and 53 RBIs — all team highs.

Lorenz believes that rookie success wouldn’t have been possible if she hadn’t redshirted. She suffered a fractured left hand while diving for a catch in the run-up to the 2024 season.

“At the time, I didn’t see it as a blessing,” she said. “But looking back on it, I’m thankful I got hurt because I don’t think I was ready to play when I first got there. It wasn’t the physical things I was lacking, but more of the mental aspects of it. I learned so much that I didn’t realize before just from watching my teammates and seeing what they did in all situations.”

Lorenz also devoted more time to the mechanics of her swing, allowing her to fix problems on the fly.

“At the end of the day, that’s how you’re going to get on the field,” she said. “I didn’t have a good understanding of my swing. I’d have a bad at-bat and foul off a bunch of pitches in the same direction but would have no idea why. I focused on what a good swing felt like and what a bad swing felt like, and now I’m trying to replicate every good swing that I felt.”

Combining that knowledge with a year of college-level strength training, Lorenz was able to hit for power for the Cardinals, something she didn’t do in high school. Munster coach Jill Perez pointed out that Lorenz hit just one home run during her senior season.

“When she was younger, she wasn’t really a power hitter,” Perez said. “She was more of a leadoff hitter, the type of person who’s going to get on base a ton, and she’s going to turn some singles into doubles because she’s super fast. But in college she seemed to be this huge power hitter for them.”

Lorenz will take that power to Baton Rouge.

“I loved Louisville, loved everything about it,” she said. “But you only get to be in college once, and I’m excited to see what new experiences are going to be there for me at LSU.”

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.