The Book: Lady Cajuns softball 2007 Season

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&nbsp; Sometimes, timing is everything, and UL's softball team could be the beneficiary of some good timing this weekend.

The Ragin' Cajuns, a struggling team over the last two weeks, had a stunning turnaround Wednesday in a doubleheader sweep of highly-regarded Houston.

Now, the 21st-ranked Cajuns look to continue that hot streak today and Sunday when they play perhaps their biggest Sun Belt Conference series ever. UL (37-12, 8-6) hosts league leader Troy (35-12, 13-5) in a weekend series at Lamson Park, playing a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and a 1 p.m. single game Sunday.

The visiting Trojans lead the Sun Belt by 1 1/2 games over Middle Tennessee, while the Cajuns are tied for third with South Alabama. The Cajuns need to take no worse than a series win to have a chance at their eighth straight league title, and a sweep would put UL tied with Middle and in a virtual tie with Troy atop the league.

UL's preparation, though, won't be any different despite the series ramifications, according to Cajun coach Stefni Lotief.

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Dan McDonald
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"We're not focusing on doing a lot of different things," Lotief said Friday. "As long as we go out and perform close to our potential, we'll be happy. Softball's different from football or basketball ... you may have different game plans, but mostly you still work on the same skills."

Those skills were on display Wednesday when UL took 5-0 and 14-0 wins over a Houston team that is an odds-on favorite to win the Conference USA title. In that twinbill, Cajun pitchers gave up only three hits and the UL offense produced six home runs.

Before Wednesday, UL had lost five of its last six games including going 1-4 in its last two Sun Belt weekends.

"That obviously gives us a little confidence coming into a big series," Lotief said of the Houston wins. "It's a little springboard for the weekend."

Freshman pitcher Brittany Cuevas (23-7) had a complete-game two-hitter in Wednesday's opener and Holly Tankersley picked right up in the nightcap, giving up one infield hit in her three innings.

"She (Brittany) came out and attacked the whole time," Lotief said. "She was able to get her speed back, but it was more an attack attitude. That was important to her, and she set a tone for everyone else."

The Trojans have taken two out of three games in each of their last three Sun Belt series. After this weekend, Troy has only one more league series in two weeks against South Alabama.

Troy leads the conference in hitting and is the only team in the league with a batting average over .300 (.306).

"They do a very good job overall," Lotief said of the Trojans. "They don't have just one or two strengths. They're very balanced, just like last year, and they do a lot of things week."




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Originally Posted by NewsCopy

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Does anyone know what's the reason for Lynn Britton not being allowed/voted into the cajuns hall of fame? I just heard about it and find it very odd that the only 4 time all american is not voted in. Something very strange about that!

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Originally Posted by cayenethepepper

Does anyone know what's the reason for Lynn Britton not being allowed/voted into the cajuns hall of fame? I just heard about it and find it very odd that the only 4 time all american is not voted in. Something very strange about that!

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what do you think the reason is?

Z.

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Originally Posted by Zeebart21

_ what do you think the reason is?

Z. _

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Uhhhhhh...........if I knew I wouldn't ask bro!! What do you think the reason is?

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Originally Posted by cayenethepepper

_ Uhhhhhh...........if I knew I wouldn't ask bro!! What do you think the reason is? _

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Dont worry about zebras stupid question to you he was probably in need of his medicine.

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<table bgcolor=#eaeaea> <td> <font color=#000000> <center><b>UL wins first game with Cuevas no-hitter, loses second by 3 runs
</b><i>ESPN 1420 broadcast announcers fill in for Steve Peloquin</i></center><blockquote> <p align=justify>
&nbsp; A freshman puts together a career performance, and then your player-of-the-year finalist gets thumped.

Welcome to Ragin' Cajun softball, as the team's April struggles continued during a split of Saturday's Sun Belt Conference doubleheader with Troy at Lamson Park.

"We would have liked to have had a better mound presence in Game 2," UL coach Stefni Lotief said after Troy smashed four home runs to win 8-5 in the second game of the weekend series.

"But our offense really stepped up today and, obviously, Brittany Cuevas was phenomenal in Game 1," she said. "Those are the positives I'm going to look at and just get ready for the next one."

Having won every Sun Belt regular-season title since Lotief took over the program in 2001, UL is dangerously close to the edge of entering the conference tournament in a couple of weeks without the No. 1 seed.

Troy came into the series in first place with a 13-5 Sun Belt record. UL - which stumbled to 3-5 overall and 1-4 conference records in April - was at 8-6. Also at six losses were Middle Tennessee State (11-6), South Alabama (8-6), Florida Atlantic (6-6) and Western Kentucky (6-6).

Confused? Just think how a large and rowdy crowd viewed Saturday's play.

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Bob Heist
bheist@theadvertiser.com
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In Game 1, Cuevas - a freshman from Brazoria, Texas - threw her first career no-hitter as 19th-ranked UL blistered the Trojans, 7-0.

Improving to 24-7 on the season, Cuevas walked four and struck out nine. She allowed only one ball to leave the infield.

Backing that performance was an offense that knocked Troy ace Angela Lopez out of the game in the fifth inning after a leadoff homer by Holly Tankersley hit three-quarters of the way up the light standard in right-center field.

The homer was the game's second for Tankersley, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Desi Chatman and Lacey Bertucci also homered. Of UL's 11 hits, seven went for extra bases, including doubles by Codi Runyan, Melissa Verde and Karli Hubbard.

So that was the good part for the Ragin' Cajuns. The bad? They couldn't finish the job.

After Chatman gave Game 2 starter Tankersley, a finalist for college softball player-of-the-year honors, a 1-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single, the junior from Kirbyville, Texas, was unable to take advantage.

And it was a strange effort for Tankersley, who allowed just four hits in 4.1 innings. All of those hits, though, were huge, as Felicia Hammer drilled a two-run homer in the second inning, Brooke Powell slapped a two-run double in the fourth, and Heidi Johnson and Courtney Davis hit consecutive home runs in the fifth.

Tankersley was yanked after Johnson and Davis went back-to-back. Redshirt freshman Amanda Hill finished the game, allowing a fourth homer to Amanda Ragans to lead off the seventh inning.

"Everyone has good and bad days, and in a way I had some of both," said Tankersley, who fell to 12-5 on the mound and now leads the team in homers (15) and RBIs (49) for the season. "We stayed in the game on offense, but I had a few mistakes on the mound that hurt us. I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes."

Also interesting was the fact that Lopez (17-4) - just named the Sun Belt pitcher of the week - came on in relief in Game 2 for the win. Over the final four innings, the junior from Navarre, Fla., scattered four hits and allowed two runs - including Tankersley's third homer of the day.

Earlier in the game, Melissa Verde hit a two-run homer off Troy starter Heather Rush.

"We just have to stay positive, because there's a lot of games left to play (in the conference)," Cuevas said. "If we do that, we'll be fine. One setback like that second game isn't going to stop us. It was just another game and we'll move on.

"I just hope people remember we have a great team. We're going to be fine, trust me."

The series finale is 1 p.m. today.




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&nbsp; For six seasons under Stefni Lotief, UL has dominated Sun Belt Conference softball like no other program. Consider:

Since Lotief was named head coach in 2001, the Ragin' Cajuns were 96-9 in conference play prior to 2007.

Lotief's teams have won every Sun Belt regular-season title and swept through the conference tournament, winning the last six championship games by a 46-11 margin in combined runs.

In fact, UL has been nearly bullet-proof against Sun Belt competition. Including a 22-0 record in tournament play, the Ragin' Cajuns are 118-9 against league opponents since 2000.

But this season, some folks have decided to spit in Superman's face. And Troy did just that in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader at Lamson Park.

No-hit by UL's freshman standout Brittany Cuevas in the opener, the Trojans made a statement by hitting four home runs to win Game 2, 85.

College softball player of the year finalist Holly Tankersley only allowed four hits in the second game, but three left the park as Felicia Hammer, Heidi Johnson and Courtney Davis all smashed home runs for Troy.

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Bob Heist
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That despite the fact UL appears to have played its way into a situation where a sweep of this three-game series with the Trojans was paramount to winning a seventh regular-season conference title under Lotief.

Sure, there's another opportunity for UL to complicate the conference race today when the teams close the series at 1 p.m. back at Lamson Park. But chinks in the program's armor that weren't evident before are visible.

Now 9-7 in Sun Belt games, UL has just two less conference losses than the previous six seasons combined.

Is there time to recover? Absolutely. The team isn't ranked 19th in the country by accident, and the no-hitter by Cuevas was a signature moment just weeks before the conference tournament at Middle Tennessee State.

But there aren't any gimmees for this club, either. It's young in spots, and the Ragin' Cajuns are learning that what goes around has finally come around.

"It's just a long season, and through any season, everything doesn't go perfect," Lotief said. "We're experiencing that a little, but there's a long way to go, too."




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Originally Posted by NewsCopy

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I've not been a fan of Bitter in the past... but I am willing to compliment him for stepping forward following the tradegy in Steve's family and helping out with calling the game. I think, under the circumstances, that he did a great job... AND EVEN REFERED TO OUR SCHOOL AS THE "UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA".

My compliments, Mr. Bitter.

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Originally Posted by NewsCopy

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According to a Lady Cajun injury report Tankersley has an injury to her pitching hand, which prevents her from gripping the ball tightly. This is a possible explanation for her giving up those homeruns. Without those the Ladies have a chance of winning the game and a complete sweep of the series, since they mercy ruled Troy 8-0 this afternoon.

Next season we have Cuevas and the signee from John Curtis, Brignac, available for pitching duties. Tankersley can concentrate on her hitting, and the Ladies will be little more experienced. Should be a fun year. Those folks who took advantage of our inexperience, and pitching depth this year had better savor the moment, cause their chances of a repeat next year will be nil to none!

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Originally Posted by CajunCharlie

According to a Lady Cajun injury report Tankersley has an injury to her pitching hand, which prevents her from gripping the ball tightly. This is a possible explanation for her giving up those homeruns. Without those the Ladies have a chance of winning the game and a complete sweep of the series, since they mercy ruled Troy 8-0 this afternoon.

Next season we have Cuevas and the signee from John Curtis, Brignac, available for pitching duties. Tankersley can concentrate on her hitting, and the Ladies will be little more experienced. Should be a fun year. Those folks who took advantage of our inexperience, and pitching depth this year had better savor the moment, cause their chances of a repeat next year will be nil to none!

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Lets not forget Ms Donna Bourgeois from Teurlings. According to Guru she has just recently been clocked at 63 mph. next year....Our cup runneth over....

mais dats a good ting... yeah T!

Z.

ps props again to Bitter and Prather. Excellent job, guys!

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Originally Posted by Zeebart21

_ Lets not forget Ms Donna Bourgeois from Teurlings. According to Guru she has just recently been clocked at 63 mph. next year....Our cup runneth over....

mais dats a good ting... yeah T!

Z.

ps props again to Bitter and Prather. Excellent job, guys! _

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Forgot about her, which will really makes the rest of the league even more nervous. Also, St Thomas Moore centerfielder, Katey Stanford, has committed to UL. So, we get some more batting power, and the league anxiety level rises a little more!!

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Originally Posted by CajunCharlie

_ Forgot about her, which will really makes the rest of the league even more nervous. Also, St Thomas Moore centerfielder, Katey Stanford, has committed to UL. So, we get some more batting power, and the league anxiety level rises a little more!! _

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Stanford must be coming on Tops or Academic scholarship, I was told this week there are no more scholarships available after the early signing period.