<table bgcolor=#eaeaea> <td> <font color=#000000> <blockquote> <p align=justify>
Eight straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
Seven Sun Belt Conference titles, every trophy - regular season and tournament - the league has ever awarded.
An average of 51 wins per season and an 82 percent winning percentage over the past eight seasons (408-90).
It's a lot to live up to, especially when your roster has more than twice as many new faces as returnees.
And, there's the big question, one that UL softball coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief have confronted since last season ended: Who's going to pitch?
"A lot of people have asked about that," Stefni Lotief said Saturday after her team wrapped up its second week of preseason drills. "We knew that having two senior pitchers last year that we'd have that situation this year. We've got four pitchers on the staff and we'll use them wherever and however we need."
Seniors Ashley Kirchberg and Krystal Lewallen threw all but three of the 401 innings logged by UL hurlers last season. Holly Tankersley's three innings in one game last season are the extent of the staff's experience.
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070121/SPORTS/701210372/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
<!--
There are some other holes to fill, but none as glaring as in the circle by the time the Cajuns open their 2007 schedule Feb. 9-11 in their own Louisiana Classics tournament. Georgia, Wichita State and McNeese State provide the competition for that three-day event that opens at least 30 home games at Lamson Ragin' Cajun Park.
It starts one of the toughest schedules UL has faced in recent years, with tournaments in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Fullerton, Calif., including seeral nationally-ranked teams. The Cajuns' home schedule includes Baylor, Purdue, Houston and Iowa State along with improving Sun Belt teams chomping at the bit to take advantage of UL's youthful squad.
"I think our players understand that," Lotief said. "A lot of teams know we're young this year in a lot of positions. There's a reason that some of these teams want to come in this year."
The Cajuns went 50-12 last season and reached the finals of the NCAA Regionals in Baton Rouge before falling to host LSU. But some of the main cogs that helped UL hit .304 as a team and compiled a 1.87 team ERA are gone, not the least of which is three-time All-America outfielder Danyele Gomez.
Gomez hit .442, won the Sun Belt's "Triple Crown" and became the number four home run hitter in NCAA history in a stellar four-year career in which she rewrote most of UL's offensive record book.
Also graduated is number two home run hitter Ashley Evans and second baseman/leadoff hitter Brittany Bryant. But it's the departures of Kirchberg (26-3, 1.83) and Lewallen (24-8, 1.95) that have a Cajun fan base spoiled by past excellence more than a tad concerned.
Tankersley pitched in 14 games in 2004 (10-1, 1.36) before redshirting in 2005 and spending most of her sophomore season as a designated hitter. The rest of the staff will toe the pitching plate for the first time collegiately this year - redshirts Shari Sigur of Lafayette High and Amanda Hill of Tomball, Texas, and natural freshman Brittany Cuevas of Brazoria, Texas.
"They're a staff and they're going to pitch that way," Lotief said. "We've always had a philosophy that we pitch as a staff. When Brooke (All-American Brooke Mitchell) was here, she wanted the ball every day. But we're not opposed to using several pitchers. If someone's running with the ball that's good, if we need to bring someone in relief we'll do that."
The infield, by comparison, is awash with experience. First baseman Lacey Bertucci (.321, 19 homers) and catcher Jessica Lemoine (.238) each started all 62 games last year, and shortstop Codi Runway (.260) missed only one start. Tara Hamilton (.314) played in 52 games and started 27, mostly at third base, and is currently alternating between second and third.
UL's outfield will be a new-look group with Gomez and Evans departed, but returning center fielder Karli Hubbard (.284) and Tankersley (.333, 9 homers) both available along with senior veteran Desi Chatman (.179).
The other spots will be filled from a roster that includes eight players redshirted last season and seven first-time freshmen.
"When you look at that many freshmen, it makes you wonder where you're at," Lotief said. "But those kids that redshirted played in intrasquads and grew along with our other players. We made a lot of strides in the fall and they came back ready to go at it. The difference is with a young team, you have to be very sure the expectations are laid out for them."
With the past success of the program, those expectations are huge.
-->
</td> </table>
