USA TODAY/NATIONAL FASTPITCH COACHES ASSOCITAION TOP 25 POLL
The USA Today/National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I Top 25 is voted on by 23 NCAA Division I head coaches. Records are as of April 7.
(First Place votes are in parentheses.)
<h4><pre>
Rank Team Record Points Last Week
1. Arizona (23) 37-3 575 2
2 UCLA 32-4 551 1
3. Washington 34-5-1 529 3
4. Oklahoma 32-6 495 4
5. Texas 29-7 470 5
6. California 32-9 460 7
7. Nebraska 28-9 448 6
8. Cal State Fullerton 25-12 406 9
9. DePaul 24-4 394 10
10. Georgia 39-7 377 8
11. LSU 29-11 340 11
12. Arizona State 26-12 308 12
13. Michigan 21-8 276 15
14. Florida State 30-9 250 16
15. South Carolina 28-10 243 14
16. Stanford 28-14 234 13
17. Alabama 32-13 205 18
18. Texas A&M 28-13 181 19
19. Oklahoma State 27-9 177 17
20. Florida 31-11 149 24
<u>21. Louisiana 24-5 106 25</u>
22. Oregon 18-11 83 21
23. South Florida 41-12 52 22
24. Illinois 24-8 50 NR
25. Ohio State 17-12 34 20</pre></h4><b>Dropped Out: Kansas</b><p align=justify>
Others receiving votes: Southern Illinois 20, Tennessee 15, Oregon State 12, Northwestern 7, Kansas 6, Texas-Arlington 5, Massachusetts 4, Missouri 4, Southwest Texas 3, Iowa 3, Florida Atlantic 2. One other team (totaling one point) received votes but was only listed on one ballot.
<i>LOUISIANA SI</i>
Opposites Attract: 24-5 LAdy Cajuns Host 7-40 Aggies
<i><center>Louisiana's 21st-ranked Lady Cajuns softball team <br>entertains New Mexico State in Sun Belt series</i></center><blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. - Two teams positioned at different ends of the Sun Belt Conference softball spectrum meet this weekend for a four-game series at Lady Cajun Park beginning Saturday at 1 p.m.
Louisiana's first place, 21st-ranked Lady Cajun softball team which sports an overall record of 24-5 and SBC mark of 4-0 will play host to last place New Mexico State which features a 7-40 overall mark and is 0-4 in SBC play.
The Lady Cajuns will enter the weekend set riding a season-high nine-game winning streak and has won its last 16 outings within its friendly confines.
NMSU enters the series suffering through a seven game losing streak.
Louisiana leads the Sun Belt with an earned run average of 1.24 while NMSU is a conference worst 5.42.
The Cajuns batting average is second in the league at .277 while the Aggies are the only team hitting below .200, stuck at .193.
Louisiana is the best team in the Sun Belt fielding-wise and sports a .974 fielding percentage.
New Mexico State, meanwhile, has struggled defensively and sports a Sun Belt worst .920 fielding percentage and has committed 115 errors - 95 more than the Cajuns have themselves.
The Cajuns pitchers have allowed the fewest hits in the league with just 111 surrendered.
NMSU has given up 423, a figure which ranks at the bottom of the Sun Belt and is an average of 9.0 hits allowed per outing.
Louisiana gives up just 3.8 hits per game and averages nearly seven themselves.
If ever the statement were true, this series would apply. Opposites do indeed attract.
Need proof - just make the trip out to Lady Cajun Park.
To put the whole picture in perspective all one has to do is look at the batting averages of both squads.
New Mexico State has just four players hitting above .200. On the other hand, Louisiana features eight-of-nine starters with averages better than .220.
Pitching-wise, the Cajuns sport the Sun Belt's top two in Brooke Mitchell (11-4, 0.88 ERA, 2 SV) and Michael Parrott (6-0, 1.16 ERA) and each Cajuns pitcher has an ERA below 3.00. NMSU's lowest ERA is 4.64.
Louisiana is led at the plate by senior All-American Becky McMurtry. The North Platte, Neb., native is hitting .421 for the season and enters this weekend's four-game set riding an 11-hit streak which dates back to March 14. She is batting 15-for-26 (.577 avg.) with five doubles, three home runs, 11 runs scored and 11 RBI during the streak.
In Sun Belt play, McMurtry is 5-for-9 with seven runs scored, three RBI and two doubles. She sports a .778 slugging percentage and .733 on-base percentage in SBC play. She has drawn three walks and struck out zero times.
Overall, McMurtry's slugging percentage is .882 and on-base percentage is .554. She has drawn 17 walks and struck out just nine times.
She is joined by true freshman Danyele Gomez in the hitting highlights. Gomez leads the Cajuns with 10 home runs and 33 RBI. Her RBI total is tops among all Sun Belt players. She needs just two home runs to tie All-American Alana Addison's freshman record for home runs.
Gomez was 6-for-14 with three doubles, four runs scored and six RBI in last weekend's Sun Belt sweep of Middle Tennessee.
Brittany Bryant and Jill Robertson have seen their fortunes look up since Sun Belt play began. Both are batting above .400 in league play with Bryant at .444 and Robertson .417. Bryant has driven in six runs during SBC play while Robertson leads the way with two home runs and eight runs scored.
Louisiana features five players hitting above .400 in Sun Belt action.
In the pitching circle, Brooke Mitchell continues to impress. The sophomore hurler from Pasadena, Texas, earned three wins and one save in last weekend's sweep of Middle Tennessee.
In her last seven appearances in the circle, the All-American candidate has tossed a one-hitter. On the Cajuns current homestand, Mitchell is 5-0 in five starts and six appearances with one save during the stand. She has posted a 0.24 ERA and has given up just six hits in 29 2/3 innings while allowing only one earned run and striking out 33 during the homestand.
In the process, she has lowered her season ERA to 0.88 and has struck out 125 batters in 95 innings.
The Cajuns can also rely on the arm of senior Parrott and redshirt freshman Afton Thoms.
NMSU has struggle at times during the 2003 season. Much of that can be attributed to the newness of the squad as a bevy of junior college transfers and freshmen dot the roster.
The Aggies opened the season on an eight-game losing streak and were 2-26 at one point following a season-high 16-game losing streak from Feb. 19-March 9.
NMSU has struggled producing runs as well. The Aggies have scored just 90 runs through 47 games - an average of 1.9 runs per outing. Opponents have shutout the Aggies 20 times.
At the plate, the Aggies struggles are easy to see. As a team they are hitting .193 and average only four hits a game. Only four batters are hitting better than .200.
NMSU is led by the plate by Christine Stephens. Stephens is hitting .341 and has hit 11 home runs and brought home 29 runs. The next best batter is hitting .222.
In the circle, Jennie Bride has garnered six of the seven NMSU wins. She is 6-18 with a 4.64 ERA in 22 starts and 38 appearances. She has logged 188 2/3 innings for NMSU and has a team-best 151 strikeouts.
Defense has been an adventure for head coach Lea Ann Jarvis' squad. The Aggies are committing more than two errors per game and have a .920 fielding percentage. They have committed 115 errors in 47 games. Five players have committed double-digit errors.
NMSU opened Sun Belt play last weekend with Florida International and was swept in the four-game series by a count of 39-3 - including 15-0 and 9-0 scores on Sunday. The Aggies have lost eight straight Sun Belt games dating back to last season.
Louisiana leads the all-time series 9-0 with all meetings having taken place in Sun Belt play. The Cajuns lead the series 4-0 at Lady Cajun Park and have not allowed the Aggies to cross home plate in the friendly confines.
Louisiana is 19-1 at home in Sun Belt play since 2001 and 38-2 overall. The Cajuns have swept the last 11 doubleheaders they've participated in.
Following Saturday's games, the series will wrap up on Sunday with a 1 p.m. twinbill. The series marks the Cajuns final Sun Belt home games of the season. Louisiana will also honor its four seniors before Sunday's first game.</blockquote><B><I>LOUISIANA SI</b></i>
Colonels face test vs. Lady Cajuns
<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA — Unless Louisiana is able to host an NCAA Softball Regional, Lady Cajun seniors are looking at their last few chances to play before appreciative home fans at Lady Cajun Park for 2003.
First baseman Summar Lapeyrouse, third baseman Becky McMurtry and pitchers Michael Parrott and Rachel Reese were all honored before Sunday’s Sun Belt Conference doubleheader against New Mexico State.
That foursome will be out to extend the team’s 13-game win streak when Louisiana hosts Nicholls State in a 5 p.m. doubleheader today, and the regular-season home slate ends Thursday with a single 7 p.m. contest against Texas-San Antonio.
The 21-19 Colonels face a stiff task against coach Stefni Lotief’s Lady Cajuns, who impropved to 28-5 overall and 8-0 in Sun Belt play with last weekend’s decimation of NMSU that helped them climb to No. 20 in one national poll.
Louisiana outscored NMSU 58-3 in the four games, collecting 51 hits, 13 home runs and 9 doubles.
The Lady Cajuns hit .526 as a team (51-for-97), with four batters hitting over .500 and McMurtry and freshman sensation Danyele Gomez each over .700 for the weekend.
Gomez has earned Hitter of the Week honors from both the Sun Belt Conference and Louisiana Sports Writers Association for her 10-for-13 performance. She now has 14 home runs, exceeding the school record of 12 for freshmen set in 1999 by Alana Addison.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/16CCB922-78AE-43B2-A108-4F3C46500997.shtml">The rest of the story</a><!--
McMurtry continues to pace the team in hitting with a .453 average, belting 12 doubles 10 homers and 33 RBI and earning a .942 slugging percentage.
She has a 15-game hitting streak, during which she has gone 22-for-36 (.611) with six doubles, five homers and 19 RBI, and leads the team with 41 runs scored.
Gomez is suddenly close behind at .417, with 10 doubles and a .922 slugging percentage while pacing the squad in homers and RBI (42).
Crystal George (.333) and junior shortstop Jill Robertson (.307, 9 homers, 17 RBI, 7-for-7 on stolen bases) are also over .300.
The Cajuns have slugged 57 home runs, 52 of those at home, and are taking aim at 2002’s school-record 76. They have outscored their last eight foes 91-10, hitting .436 in the process.
Brooke Mitchell (12-4, 0.85 ERA, 132 strikeouts), Parrott (7-0, 1.42, 32 K) and Afton Thoms (8-1, 1.87, 31 K) pace Louisiana’s pitching.
When the two schools met Feb. 19 in Thibodaux, the Cajuns won 1-0, 6-3, so the Colonels figure to be a tougher foe than NMSU.
NSU’s pitching staff features four pitchers each with earned run averages below 2.00 and a staff ERA of 1.47. Duffi Matherne leads the way with a 1.20 ERA.
NSU’s go-to-pitcher is junior transfer Dione Meier (11-7) with a 1.47 ERA. She has tossed 124 innings in 18 starts and 27 appearances. She has 160 strikeouts to her credit and opponents are hitting just .172 against her.
Meier threw against the Cajuns on Feb. 19 and held them to just four hits. Louisiana scored an unearned run in the top of the sixth to claim a 1-0 win.
Nicholls State is led at the plate by freshman first baseman Lindsay Coleman with a team-best .304 with six home runs and 31 RBI. She was 1-for-5 in the two teams’ earlier meeting this season.
Stephanie Sasser is next at .282 and leads the Colonels with eight doubles. Lindsey Yelverton (.272) has seven doubles and four triples and is a solid extra-base hit threat for NSU.
Louisiana leads the all-time series 66-19 and is 8-0 against NSU under Lotief. The Cajuns have won the last 17 meetings between the two teams and have not lost to the Colonels since March 4, 1998 when NSU claimed a 5-3 win at Lady Cajun Park. -->
