Lady Cajuns get time to rest

<! Lotief hopes softball club can rejuvenate itself for stretch drive to season. ><blockquote><p align=justify>Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns are getting some time off, and they could use it.

Coach Stefni Lotief's No. 14-ranked Cajuns improved to 24-7 with Tuesday's doubleheader sweep of UL Monroe at Ragin' Cajun Softball Park and won't play again until an April 6 road doubleheader at Nicholls State in Thibodaux.

Once they get back to action, the Cajuns have the potential for 26 more games in the regular season before competing in the May 12-15 Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Bowling Green and gearing up for an expected return to the NCAA Tournament.

"I've always built a break into our schedule, so the players can catch up on family and school," Lotief said. "An old coach I know once told me that it's one of the smartest things I've ever done.

"We've played some tough teams, and it's time to take a breath."

Louisiana has competed in the NFCA Leadoff Classic and the Kia Klassic, meeting up with some of the best programs in the nation. The Cajuns are winless against ranked teams this season, but counted narrow losses to Georgia (2-1) and Arizona (2-0) among those contests.

Last year's squad set a school record with a 60-8 finish, and it's easy to see how this year's team should exceed the 60-game plateau once again.

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Bruce Brown
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"We hope to be playing through June," Lotief said. "These players are not in easy majors. They need to get some time away from it to see their families and to catch up in the classroom before we get back to it.

"I want to keep them mentally fresh."

As the Cajuns take the weekend off, senior All-American pitcher Brooke Mitchell has the same earned run average (0.82) that she posted in 2004 when she went 45-5 and had 524 strikeouts in 315 2/3 innings of work.

Now 17-6, Mitchell has fanned 222 in 128 1/3 innings. She has 1,189 career strikeouts and 108 victories, both ongoing school records.

Mitchell was used sparingly against ULM (two innings) so Lotief could look at Heather Bobbitt (4-0) and Ashley Kirchberg (3-1).

While Mitchell is cruising at her usual high level, sophomore first baseman Lacey Bertucci has made a dramatic jump on offense.

Bertucci leads the Cajuns in batting average (.349), home runs (10) and runs batted in (29), topping her 2004 figures of .266 and nine homers while on target to wipe out her 40 RBIs of last season.

Senior center fielder Jill Robertson, who missed 2004 with a knee injury, is enjoying her finest campaign for the Cajuns.

The swift Acadiana High product is batting .333 (31-of-93, a team-high 25 runs, 6-of-7 stolen bases) for her highest average through March in her college career. Robertson's previous marks were .275 in 2001, when she was the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, .257 in 2002 and .250 in 2003 when UL reached the Women's College World Series.

Robertson ranks fourth in career runs in UL history with 176, needing 24 to reach the 200-run plateau occupied by Jerie Alexander (230), Alana Addison (216) and Tiffany Clark (200). She is also fourth in career walks (91) and can join Addison (108) and Clark (100) as the only Cajuns over 100.

Also, junior outfielder Danyele Gomez (.348, 7 home runs, 24 RBIs) now has 40 home runs at UL, trailing only Addison (57) and Stephanie DeFeo (43) on that list.

Bertucci, Gomez, Robertson, Crystal George (.338) and Brittany Bryant (.315) are all hitting over .300 this season.

The numbers indicate the Cajuns are on their way to another successful season. Re-charging their batteries before the stretch run should assure that.
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