Cajuncharlie, I know that Cuevas, Brignac, Bourgeois will be contenders for the circle next year. I might add the name of Sigur who has seen some arm time this year. Nonetheless, it looks like Dynomite for 2008 from 40+ feet out.
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Cajuncharlie, I know that Cuevas, Brignac, Bourgeois will be contenders for the circle next year. I might add the name of Sigur who has seen some arm time this year. Nonetheless, it looks like Dynomite for 2008 from 40+ feet out.
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Give UL's softball team enough chances, and chances are you'll get burned.
That's exactly what Troy experienced at rowdy Lamson Park on Sunday. And now what's left are two entertaining weeks to end a wacky Sun Belt Conference season.
"When all cylinders are clicking, we have one of the best teams in the country," said Ragin' Cajuns first baseman Lacey Bertucci, who delivered the knockout punch with a grand slam during an 8-0 win in five innings over Troy to close the weekend series.
"We're scary when we're on, and I think we're really getting close to that."
And in dropping two of three games to UL, the conference-leading Trojans never had a chance Sunday.
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Bob Heist
bheist@theadvertiser.com
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Trailing 1-0, starting pitcher Michelle Grinage failed to record an out during a disastrous fourth inning for Troy (36-14, 14-7 Sun Belt). Grinage walked in a run and gave up Bertucci's long grand slam to center field before being replaced by Heather Rush.
UL then followed with four singles -including RBI base hits from pinch-hitters Adele Files and Jessica Lemoine - to complete the seven-run explosion.
"I made a poor coaching decision not making a pitching change earlier," Troy coach Melanie Davis said. "Michelle Grinage was doing a good job of keeping their big bats off-balance and I got greedy. They made us pay for my bad decision."
Bertucci's homer was her second of the series and 12th this season. In all, UL feasted on Troy pitching in taking two of three games, batting .342 (26-for-76) with six homers and three doubles.
Also enjoying the Trojans' visit was freshman pitcher Brittany Cuevas, who threw her second gem of the weekend on Sunday.
After firing a no-hitter to open the series, Cuevas came back in the final game to allow just two hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Dating back to Wednesday's 5-0 shutout win over Conference USA power Houston, Cuevas has thrown 19 consecutive scoreless innings and allowed just four total hits.
"Brittany's a key for this team and I give her so much credit, because she's gotten to the point where she's pretty much healthy again after battling through some injuries," UL coach Stefni Lotief said after the 19th-ranked Ragin' Cajuns improved to 39-13, 10-7.
"She's brought it to another level again, and that's why you're starting to see us play at another level."
By winning the series against Troy - and counting other results from across the Sun Belt - UL remained a threat to win its seventh straight regular-season conference title. The Ragin' Cajuns are currently in third place, one loss in the standings behind Troy and Middle Tennessee State (11-6). Florida Atlantic and Western Kentucky are next, both tied at 8-7.
"We've had our ups and downs this season, but we're up now and that feels good," Bertucci said. "As far as the regular season conference thing, I don't care. What I care about is the postseason, and I think we're back on track now.
"And I think that's scary for everybody else we're going to play."
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I wonder if they might redshirt Bourgeois. Would probably be a good idea considering the depth we will probably have next year at pitcher.Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeebart21
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New Orleans – Lady Cajun freshmen Melissa Verde and Brittany Cuevas were respectively named the Sun Belt Conference’s Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Monday.
The duo helped lead ULL to a 4-1 record last week defeating CUSA member Houston in non-conference action before taking two of three from SBC leader Troy over the weekend.
Verde went 8-of-15 from the plate (.533), hitting a double, three homeruns and knocking in nine RBIs. The freshman had 18 total bases and finished the week with a 1.200 slugging percentage.
On the diamond, Verde committed only one error in 22 chances at third base.
In the circle, Cuevas pitched three complete games for a total of 19 innings. She only gave up four hits in the three games, surrendering no runs.
She struck out 22 batters she faced in the 19 innings. She pitched two two-hitters, a 5-0 decision against Houston on Wednesday and then 8-0 against Troy on Sunday. Cuevas no-hit Troy on Saturday in a 7-0 win over the Trojans.
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www.sunbeltsports.org
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That is the plan at this time, as per the staff. But, they thought the same thing about Valle Gaspard as well. I think the fall will have alot to say about what happens with Bourgeois. She is an excellent athlete like Holly(Wood) Tankersley and she can really swing the bat well too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cajun90
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The numbers are staggering, really. And it's that fact which whets the imagination of Middle Tennessee softball coach Leigh Podlesny.
In a nutshell, the Blue Raiders' coach is this close, yet so far away. But that's the mystique UL enjoys. And it's that combination of envy and jealousy that has a handful of Sun Belt teams dreaming about 2007 finally being the season when the Ragin' Cajuns' monopoly over the league is snapped.
"If you had asked me at the beginning of the season if I'd be happy with where we're at right now - absolutely," Podlesny said. "But we don't take anything for granted, either. We know we have to take care of our business or that big shadow of Lafayette (:hot:) is going to hang over us again."
And it really is wacky to look at the possible combinations involved that could disrupt the Ragin' Cajuns continuing to dominate Sun Belt softball. But the fact remains, UL is currently on the outside looking in.
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Bob Heist
Sports Editor, Advertiser
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The question begging for an answer as the conference enters the final two weeks of the regular season is this, though:
Can anyone -specifically MTSU and Troy - finish the job?
Here's a look:
MTSU
The Blue Raiders (24-23 overall, 11-6 Sun Belt) are currently two games back in the standings, but are actually one game in the loss column ahead of first-place Troy. MTSU also took the season series from the Trojans by winning two of three games.
Even Troy coach Melanie Davis admitted the ball is in MTSU's court as far as winning the regular-season title after dropping two of three games against UL at Lamson Park over the weekend.
"We've played ourselves into this situation," Davis said after the Trojans fell to 14-7 in the Sun Belt following Sunday's 8-0 loss in five innings to the Ragin' Cajuns. "But looking at it realistically, (MTSU) really controls its destiny."
But what looks good on paper may be hard to actualize in practice.
MTSU ends Sun Belt play against Florida Atlantic (28-21, 8-7) and Western Kentucky (25-24, 8-7). The Blue Raiders - who took two out of three games from UL - have not swept a complete three-game conference series this season. Heck, in the last month alone, MTSU has dropped a game to both UL Monroe (22-33, 2-16) and North Texas (18-31, 10-11).
Troy
The Trojans had a chance to distance themselves from UL and MTSU over the weekend, but just couldn't deal with Ragin' Cajuns freshman pitcher Brittany Cuevas.
In the two games Cuevas (25-7) started, Troy managed just two combined hits and was outscored by a 15-0 margin.
With the current state of its pitching, it's hard to imagine Troy (36-14, 14-7) will sweep South Alabama (31-18, 9-8) in the Trojans' only remaining conference series on May 5-6. That fact becomes more tangible considering the team hasn't swept any of its past four conference opponents.
"Sweeps are almost unheard of in this league this year, so that's not a big concern," Davis said. "What's a concern is being ready to play that final series. Our advantage is we get to take a week off from the conference and see what happens."
"But it would be nice to be the team that breaks up what Lafayette has going," she added. "We really could have helped ourselves in that regard, but couldn't."
Ragin' Canjuns
UL (39-13, 10-7) really is in the most advantageous position to roll through the remainder of the conference schedule unbeaten with series left against North Texas and UL Monroe. But that's going to rely on a second pitcher emerging.
Cuevas - just named the Sun Belt pitcher of the week - is finally healthy after battling through mid-season injury issues and is dominating opponents again. In her last three starts, the Brazoria, Texas, native is 3-0 with a no-hitter and 0.00 ERA. She's also riding a 19-inning scoreless streak.
But in three games sandwiched around those starts, pitchers not named Cuevas are 1-2 and have given up 11 earned runs in 17 innings -plus five home runs. That's not the stuff that has helped UL sweep every regular season and tournament title since 2000 and amass a 118-9 record against Sun Belt competition entering 2007.
Toss in the program annually being in the Top 20 and it's no wonder the rest of the league is hoping to capitalize on a "down" season. And there's another reason coaches around the Sun Belt are hoping for Christmas in May:
Next year, UL coach Stefni Lotief is going to pair USA Junior World team star Ashley Brignac from John Curtis High in New Orleans with Cuevas.
Entering the Class 2A state tournament in Sulphur later this week, Brignac is 23-0 with a 0.00 ERA and seven perfect games this season. In the playoffs, Brignac has thrown two perfect games and struckout 35 of the 36 batters she's faced.
Can UL get hot and, in particular, Troy and MTSU stumble just enough to open the door for the conference's most dominant run to continue?
The rest of the Sun Belt is hoping that for just once a team other than the Ragin' Cajuns can with a softball title - be it in the regular season or postseason tournament.
"I think that's the grand statement of how special a run this has been for our program," Lotief said. "But if it doesn't happen in the regular season this year, we'll just try and start another one next year. The conference as a whole, though, is on the rise and that's exciting.
"But I guess the bottom line is we don't shy away from challenges, and this isn't one we're going to shy away from, either. We've just got to get a little better and play a little better - and we will."
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Check this link out. It is the offical NCAA Women's Softball RPI. UL is ranked # 20.
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weekly...07WSBrpi1.html
Looking good!
I have never seen an official RPI :???:
This is VERY good. Considering the rough stretches we've endured this season, to still be in #20 RPI is outstanding. This will go a LONG way in helping us get into postseason play if we should happen to falter in the conference tourney.
Interesting question: Since our RPI will prolly be good enough to get into the NCAA tourney whether we win or lose the conf. tourney, do you think it's possible that we'd lose in the conf. tourney but still get in the NCAA, while some upstart-lotta-luck sunbelt team would win the conf. tourney but not be good enough to get into the NCAA since SBC is not yet auto bid for conf winner? Is that possible? Am I making sense? Probably not, since the work day has been long. haha.
Y'all have a good one.
God Bless
GEAUX UL RAGIN CAJUN SOFTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The NCAA's softball Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings are no longer the deep, dark secret that they've been in the past, and UL coach Stefni Lotief is glad of that.
"If the committee's going to use it as a tool to make decisions, it's better that it's out there," Lotief said Thursday. "Everyone can see it and everyone knows where they stand."
The Ragin' Cajuns, preparing for their next-to-last Sun Belt Conference weekend of the season Saturday and Sunday at North Texas, are ranked 20th in this week's first official release of RPI ratings. This season is the first that the NCAA's RPI lists have been made public.
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Dan McDonald
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As with other sports, the NCAA did not release its RPI percentages or its formula for deriving the RPI, but simulations that mirror the RPI have been available in the past.
The Cajuns (39-13, 10-7 Sun Belt) are far and away the top-ranked RPI team in the Sun Belt, with Florida Atlantic the next-closest at No. 52. UL is second among state teams, with LSU (46-6) ranked 10th in the RPI listings.
UL has played 11 games against teams ranked in the top 35 in this week's RPI, and holds an 8-3 record in those games. The only losses are to national RPI leader Arizona and to No. 4 Alabama (twice), and the Cajuns have wins over No. 5 RPI Arizona State, No. 12 Baylor (twice), No. 22 Houston (twice), No. 23 Fresno State and No. 34 Georgia (twice).
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UL's softball team needed big performances from one regular source and one unlikely source Saturday, and Lacey Bertucci and Amanda Hill provided those performances.
Bertucci had a three-run homer to bring the Cajuns back from a 3-0 deficit, and Hill had a solid pitching performance over the final four and one-third innings as UL held on for a 6-5 victory over North Texas in the first game of their Sun Belt Conference doubleheader at UNT's Lovelace Stadium in Denton, Texas.
Buoyed by that performance, UL scored six runs in the first inning of the nightcap and rolled to a 12-3 victory that boosted the Cajuns into a tie for second place in the Sun Belt standings.
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UL (41-13, 12-7), winners of 40 or more games for the ninth straight season, goes for a sweep in today's 1 p.m. series finale.
Bertucci's 13th homer of the season came in the fifth inning of the opener after North Texas (19-33, 10-13) had taken a 3-0 lead off Cajun freshman starter Brittany Cuevas.
Hill came in for Cuevas the bottom of the third inning, forced a ground ball to strand two runners in scoring position and retired eight straight batters before giving up a tying homer to UNT catcher Christen Jonse.
Hill (1-0), taking the first win of her career, also surrendered a solo homer to Susan Waters in the bottom of the seventh but fanned cleanup hitter Kristina Fowler to lock up the win. Fowler (6-13) took the loss after tossing four shutout innings to open the game.
UL had taken a 4-3 lead in the sixth when Karli Hubbard had a leadoff double for her third hit of the game and scored on Jessica Lemonie's infield grounder, outrunning a throw to the plate.
After Jonse's tying homer, the Cajuns scored twice in the seventh, both on infield errors by the Mean Green.
Cuevas (26-7) was touched for three hits and three runs while walking three early in the opener, but she shook off those effects and tossed a complete-game victory in the nightcap. She scattered six hits and allowed two runs while fanning five.
Cuevas got all the support she needed in the first inning of the nightcap, when UL sent 11 hitters to the plate and unloaded for six runs off UNT starter Ashley Lail (10-14).
Desi Chatman and Tara Hamilton had RBI singles, Melissa Verde had a sacrifice fly and Lemoine drew a bases-loaded walk, with two other runs scoring on two errors.
Chatman also had an RBI single in the third and Lemoine poked her first home run of the season in the sixth, a two-run shot that pushed the lead to 10-1.
UL moved into a tie with Middle Tennessee for second place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, both at 12-7, with Saturday's sweep. Troy, idle this weekend, leads the conference with a 14-7 mark.
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Did anyone notice that Codi Runyan did not play in these games?