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About 20 minutes after hearing the news, Michael Lotief walked into the UL softball locker room and plopped down on a wooden bench. Across the room sat two shiny reminders of the program's recent success - a trophy for winning the Sun Belt Conference regular season title and another signifying the SBC Tournament championship.
Less than 24 hours had passed since the Ragin' Cajuns won their eighth SBC Tournament in nine years. Having earned the conference tourney's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the program had clinched its 10th straight regional berth.
But Lotief and his Cajuns had to wait until Sunday night to learn this year's tournament field. In the end, his suspicion was right: UL (46-12) earned a No. 2 seed and would travel up I-10 to play in the Baton Rouge Regional.
Some media members jumped ahead to a possible matchup with top-seeded LSU (42-16), which plays fourth-seeded Mississippi Valley State (28-26) at 7 tonight.
Lotief reminded everyone that the Cajuns were not overlooking today's 4 p.m. game against third-seeded East Carolina (36-28).
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080516/SPORTS/805160331/1006" target="_blank">The rest of the story</a>
Joshua Parrott •
jparrott@theadvertiser.com • May 16, 2008
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"All the Ragin' Cajun focus is on East Carolina," said Lotief, who shares UL coaching duties with wife Stefni. "I know that doesn't sell newspapers, but all our focus is on East Carolina."
But with all the intensity and storylines attached to the UL-LSU rivalry, it's hard not to look ahead - even if no one really wants to talk about why the teams have not played each other in the regular season since 2001.
Play time?
This much we know: Broussard native and former UL volleyball player Yvette Girouard helped start the Cajun softball program in 1981. In fact, she said her mother made the team's uniforms that first year. When Girouard left for LSU after the 2000 season, she had posted a .752 win-loss percentage (759-250) after taking the program to College World Series appearances in 1993, '95 and '96.
Since going to LSU, Girouard has become one of three NCAA Division I coaches to take two programs to the College World Series. In 2005, she became one of five D-I coaches to top 1,000 career wins. She entered this season ranked among the top five in career wins and fourth among active coaches with a .760 win-loss percentage.
UL co-coach Stefni Lotief, who pitched for Girouard from 1987-90, is second among active D-I coaches with a .810 win-loss percentage (401-94 record) in eight years leading the Cajuns.
After that, clear answers for some questions are hard to find for an all-time series LSU leads, 13-3.
First, why have the Cajuns and Tigers - two nationally ranked programs separated by less than one hour - not played each other in the regular season in seven years? Since then, the only meetings have come in regional play.
"We would love to play (in the regular season)," Lotief said. "I think it would be great for softball in this state for these teams to play. We welcome the opportunity."
At first, Girouard declined to answer why UL and LSU have gone so long since playing each other in the regular season.
"I don't really want to talk about that," she said. "That's in the past. I'll never be able to defend myself. They (the Cajuns) have a fabulous program now. The teams will play again at some time down the line."
Would that happen with her at LSU?
"Probably not," she said. "They know why we don't play."
Girouard did not elaborate on her answer.
Later in the interview, she hinted at why she's not interested in scheduling the Cajuns.
"I spent 24 years of my life on that campus, and it's bittersweet because I was born and raised a Cajun girl," said Girouard, who still owns a home in Broussard. "I think some people consider me a traitor, which is ridiculous, because I left for LSU.
"I think I probably could have gone anywhere else in the country and that would have been OK for some people. I did what anyone else would have done."
She said she turned down the job twice before finally accepting it after the 2000 season.
Lotief - who was the first UL player for Girouard to be honored as an All-American, first team All-American and Academic All-American - declined to comment any further about her college coach.
"My playing days are well behind me," Lotief said. "For me, it's all about helping these kids do something special and chase their dreams. I think it should be all about the kids."
Hard ball
When the Cajuns and Tigers have played, it's usually been a memorable event.
LSU won eight of the first nine meetings before the Cajuns - under Girouard - beat the Tigers, 4-1, in the 2000 Baton Rouge Regional.
The teams split a doubleheader on April 18, 2001, in Lafayette in the last regular season matchups.
LSU has won the last five meetings - including regional contests in 2001, 2002 and two in 2006.
So what makes this such an intense rivalry? It helps that the schools are relatively close to each other and both have enjoyed national success.
"We're both very competitive state schools," said LSU's Tayl'r Hollis, a graduate of St. Thomas More. "It's going to be a good game for people to watch and play. But for us, it's just another opportunity to get closer to the College World Series.
"We don't look at it as anything else than that or make it any bigger than it is."
Both sides agreed the strong fan following from both communities make the rivalry that much more fierce.
"I think it's like any other good rivalry," said UL senior Vanessa Soto, who played her first three years at LSU. "It's two instate schools that are separated by an hour drive.
"LSU and UL fans have pride for their sports, so when those two teams compete against each other with those awesome fans it makes a really awesome environment."
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