We shall see!!.~. ..O.. .~.Quote:
Originally Posted by Turbine
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We shall see!!.~. ..O.. .~.Quote:
Originally Posted by Turbine
What I don't understand is our #3 seed in our bracket. What's up with that? The other teams (besides A&M) are not nationally ranked, we are... I know this may seem petty, just wondering the reason.
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Most of the members of UL's softball team didn't even notice who they were playing in the NCAA Regional Tournament this week, such was their excitement at seeing their own name pop up during Sunday's televised bracket announcement.
Once they figured out their opponent, they were probably even more excited.
The Cajuns will see some familiar faces in the opening game of the College Station, Texas, Regional Friday when they face Houston's Cougars. Their 1 p.m. game at the Aggie Softball Complex will be followed by host and top-seeded Texas A&M against Sam Houston State at 4 p.m.
UL faced off with Houston in an April 18 doubleheader at Lamson Park, and it was an evening the Cougars would just as soon forget. The host Cajuns rolled to 5-0 and 14-0 wins, winning the finale in four and one-half innings via mercy rule.
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Cajun pitchers allowed only three hits combined in the two games, while UL's offensive attack exploded for 18 hits including six home runs.
"I'm very pleased with the matchups," said senior first baseman Lacey Bertucci, who had three hits including a home run in the doubleheader against UH. "They (the NCAA) could have sent us to any regional, but they sent us to College Station so it's not a bad trip for us.
"There are three very good teams there, but it's three teams we're familiar with and that we're capable of beating if we play like we can."
One night does not a season make, and the Cougars regrouped in a big way after that twinbill loss. UH won 10 of its last 12 games and claimed its first-ever Conference USA title last weekend with three straight wins in the league tournament.
The Cougars shut out East Carolina 1-0 on Saturday in Orlando, Fla., to earn C-USA's automatic bid, UH's first NCAA trip since 2004.
The Cougars, in fact, played all three of their regional partners in mid-week doubleheaders during the 2007 season. UH lost twice to Texas A&M 3-0 and 4-3 but beat Sam Houston State twice by 7-2 and 7-3 scores.
"The good news with this selection is that we know what we're up against," said UH coach Kyla Holas, who as Kyla Hall was a three-time All-America selection as a pitcher for the Cajuns. "We've played every team there, so there are no surprises in store for us."
In contrast, UL hasn't played either A&M or Sam Houston State since the 2002 season.
UL swept a twinbill from the Bearcats 5-1 and 8-0 that year but lost a 3-2 decision to the Aggies in A&M's own Aggie Invitational.
"To us, it doesn't matter who we're playing," said junior designated hitter Holly Tankersley. "Our goal is to get to the College World Series and we've got to beat some good teams to get there."
BIG NUMBERS: UL goes into the NCAA Tournament tied for the nation's 10th-highest win total with its 46-16 mark. The Cajuns trail only Tennessee (54 wins), Georgia Tech (53), Oklahoma (52), LSU (52), Alabama (51), Arizona State (49), Winthrop (48), Tennessee Tech (48) and Virginia Tech (47).
Other teams with 46 wins entering NCAA play are Hawaii, Fresno State and Florida. Baylor, Northwestern, North Carolina and Loyola Marymount are all at 45 wins.
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Reason 1: Not winning the regular season SBC crownQuote:
Originally Posted by angellebertrand
Reason 2: 2 and out in the SBC tourney
Good news is that we aren't up against a high 2 (i.e. there ain't much difference in the selection committee's eyes).
Concur. This is no big deal. This is a good matchup for our girls and I think we have a fighting chance to advance as well..~.Quote:
Originally Posted by AstroCajun
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The last thing Karli Hubbard figured she'd be doing over the last three weeks was playing shortstop.
The last time she lined up anywhere in the infield was back at Comeaux High, where she helped lead the Spartans to three straight district titles. Since then, she'd become a fixture in the outfield for UL's nationally-ranked softball team.
Yet, there she was, positioned closer to the plate than she imagined, or wanted.
"I pretty much freaked a little," Hubbard said. "But you have to get over that."
Hubbard wound up manning the shortstop slot for the Ragin' Cajuns over the final two weeks of the regular season and in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament through a domino effect.
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One domino - three-year shortstop starter Codi Runyan - went down with a back injury and is still questionable to play at all in this weekend's NCAA Tournament College Station Regional.
Hubbard had to move from center field to short, freshman Vallie Gaspard shifted from left field to center, senior Desi Chatman moved from right field to left and either designated hitter Holly Tankersley or backup Meagan Godwin wound up in right.
It's little wonder the Cajuns struggled late, missing out on the league's regular-season title by one-half game when they managed only two wins in three games against last-place UL Monroe. UL then uncharacteristically lost two straight games in the league tournament, and it was defensive lapses that came up big in those two games.
Hubbard, who committed only one error all of her freshman season in the outfield, struggled along with the rest of her squad in the field.
"It's not so much the physical part," she said. "I know I can play the position. It was the mental part. You can't play this game scared. I've got to be more confident, and it's getting better now that I've had some game experience."
"We couldn't just take anyone and put there," said Cajun coach Stefni Lotief. "It takes a special player to be able to make a change like that."
Hubbard was a key part of last season's 50-12 squad that won the Sun Belt regular-season and tournament titles, playing in all 62 games and starting 59 in the outfield.
She hit .284 and led all freshmen in hits while only striking out 18 times in 148 at-bats, and her slap single eventually led to a winning run in last year's NCAA Regional first-round game against North Carolina State.
This year's been even better at the plate for the Comeaux product. She takes a .322 average into regional play, the team's second-best mark, and is perfect in 11 stolen-base attempts. She also hit .347 in Sun Belt play.
She'd probably trade some of those average points for the chance to get back on familiar turf in center field, but she knows that's probably not happening this weekend. Runyan is likely limited to designated hitter or pinch hitter duties.
"There's always going to be some adversity," Hubbard said. "We had our share of that the last couple of weeks, but I think this week we've come back together, gotten back on track and we're playing with more confidence."
Some of that confidence stems from the Cajuns' first-round NCAA opponent.
UL already holds two regular-season wins over Houston's Cougars heading into Friday's 1 p.m. contest at the Aggie Softball Complex, even though UH is the number two seed and UL is seeded third.
"We've got a good regional," Hubbard said, "but we can't take anyone lightly at this stage. We're just thankful that we have this opportunity."
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One of the raps against UL's softball team all season was its youth, but the Ragin' Cajuns aren't young when it comes to the NCAA Tournament.
When UL takes the field Friday against Houston in the opening game of the College Station Regional, the Cajun roster includes players that have played in 61 NCAA Tournament games in their careers.
Seniors Lacey Bertucci and Desi Chatman have 14 NCAA games each under their postseason belts and junior Holly Tankersley has made 11 NCAA tourney appearances. Four other players have started NCAA games.
"As you go through the experience, it's a benefit to having played in the NCAA's," said Cajun co-head coach Michael Lotief. "It's part of the learning process. It's the environment and the atmosphere that makes it different. There's so much riding on every pitch."
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The Cajuns have a big experience advantage over first-round opponent Houston (42-16), which is making its second-ever NCAA appearance. The Cougars made its only tournament appearance in 2004, winning one of three games in a regional in Waco, Texas.
Every player in the Cougar lineup Friday will be making a first-ever NCAA appearance when the 1 p.m. first pitch is thrown.
"There's no question that when it's your first one, it's a lot of pressure," Lotief said. "It's just the newness and the magnitude of it all. It's the finality ... if you lose there, your season's over.
"As you get older, there's some unique pressures on them, but it's a different type of pressure."
For the Cajun squad, NCAA participation is an expected thing. The Cajuns have made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances in the past 18 years, missing out only in 1998, and will make their ninth straight this weekend when they join top-seeded Texas A&M, UH and NCAA first-timer Sam Houston State in the field.
This year, though, making the field wasn't a certainty. The Cajuns didn't win the Sun Belt Conference regular-season title for the first time, finishing one-half game back of Florida Atlantic, and compounded their anxiety by going two-and-out in the conference tournament, again a first in the program's history.
There was quite a bit of trepidation when the UL squad gathered Sunday afternoon for the televised announcement of the field - and quite a bit of relief when the Cajuns garnered the No. 3 seed at College Station.
"It was pure excitement," said sophomore outfielder-turned-infielder Karli Hubbard. "Everybody was screaming. We knew we belonged there, but we weren't sure. We had our doubts, but we also had our hopes."
The Cajuns are hoping their postseason experience translates to a comfort level.
"I've seen a new mood out here in practice this week," Lotief said. "They're totally relieved and I think they're ready to play like they're capable of playing."
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas - There are 16 tournaments taking place at regional sites across the country, but none will match the storylines that begin to develop here today.
I guess they really do make things bigger in Texas.
"I never thought about everything that was involved that way," Houston coach Kyla Holas admitted Thursday. "But while I know it's interesting, I'm just so focused on my team. And I bet she is too."
Well, count me inquisitive, because when former players from one of the country's elite programs meet for the first time in NCAA play as head coaches, there's a certain interest level raised.
And that's what will happen today when UL and Houston square off at 1 p.m. to open the College Station Regional at Texas A&M's Aggie Softball Complex.
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Did I mention the Cajuns' Stefni Lotief and Holas - who you might remember, respectively, by their maiden names of Whitton and Hall - were the first great names in what has become a laundry list of nationally prominent players in Ragin' Cajun softball history?
"This is a program where something like that really doesn't surprise you because of all the great players that have been here," said Cajun freshman pitcher Brittany Cuevas. "But it is interesting."
When Lotief arrived in Lafayette in 1987, UL was doing OK as Yvette Girouard pieced together a program worthy of NCAA consideration. But you need a calling card for recruits, and that's what the big right-handed pitcher from Friendship, Texas, was.
By the time she had won 78 games, taken UL to its first regional and become the program's first first-team All-American in 1990, Lotief showed what was possible in our neck of the woods in Louisiana.
Then came Holas, and a bar that had already been raised went through the roof.
It didn't hurt that Pasadena, Texas, was just 20 minutes from Friendship and Lotief's dad was Holas' pitching coach in 18-and-under travel softball.
"There are all sorts of opportunities when you're successful in high school, and obviously, for a lot of different reasons, I knew about Stefni," Holas said. "I just always had (UL) in my mind because of that, and it just worked out that's where I ended up going.
"And, to be honest, I never thought twice about the choice."
During her stay, Holas became arguably the greatest pitcher in program history. The numbers say as much.
At UL, Holas is first in career winning percentage (.839), ERA (0.50), shutouts (56) and no-hitters (17), and second in games pitched (132), wins (104), innings pitched (862) and strikeouts (.820).
Lotief is second in ERA (0.66), third in innings pitched (747) and no-hitters (6), and fourth in games pitched (104), wins (78) and strikeouts (576).
Holas has several amazing single-season marks, including for ERA (0.23), shutouts (21) and no-hitters (8). Lotief is second in ERA (0.28) and no-hitters (5).
"We were different types of pitchers, so we accomplished things in different ways," Holas said. "But I think what we share is the same college experience. I loved my time at that school, and obviously Stefni did, too, because she's still there and doing the same great things."
And what about today's matchup?
"I guess there's interest because Kyla and I played (at UL), but we're trying to move on now and keep this season going," Lotief said. "I've known her since she was 14 years old, and what she did while playing softball - that was never a surprise. And look what she's doing with that program.
"This is just a good thing all around. I'll be happier if we play well and win, but it shows what can happen. You can come to our school and play with the best in the nation, get a great education, and then continue in the sport and teach younger kids how to have everything Kyla and I have and are experiencing. That says something."
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For those of you with nothing to do at work, like myself, there is a link on ragincajuns.com to watch the game live for FREE
I wish my lunch didn't end at one, or that I didn't have anything to do. I'll be back and forth to check it though!Quote:
Originally Posted by cjr3888
Oh my gosh, this is awesome. Go Cajuns!
Cajuns 0 - Houston 2 after 1 inning.
I clicked refresh and I lost the game and when I signed back in it won't come up. Any ideas?Quote:
Originally Posted by cjr3888
NEVER MIND!!!!!!!!!!! PROBLEM SOLVED!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by cajuns4life
I guess just keep trying. I did the same thing earlier and it worked just fine.
Same score after 2 complete, Cajuns 0 - Cougars 2
Cougars add 1 in the 3rd. After 3 complete, Cajuns down 3-0
After 4 complete, score is still 3-0 Cougars.
Ladies need to get those sticks going! In the 5th now; same score. .~.Quote:
Originally Posted by cjr3888
Cajuns get 1 run on 3 hits, but leave the bases loaded. After 4 and a half it's the Cougars 3 - Cajuns 1
Cougars strand 2 in the bottom of the 5th. Going into the 6th it's still Cougars 3 - Cajuns 1
Cajuns go down in order. After 6 and a half complete, Cougars still lead it 3-1.
Cougars go in order. Heading into the 7th, Cougars still lead it 3-1.
Not looking too good for the Cajuns. Top 7 and one out.
Not over just yet. Hubbard singles and Tank walks.. Ladies on First and Second with one out, Top 7.