Someone forgot to tell the University of Louisiana softball team, or Brittany Bryant, that power hitters aren't supposed to be in the leadoff position.

But that's where Bryant has been in the Ragin' Cajuns' last nine games, and all she's done is hit .370 while drawing eight walks. She's scored twice in each of UL's last four games.

Oh, and she's also hit three home runs, including a grand slam Tuesday in the Cajuns' road sweep of McNeese State.

"Usually you only lead off once anyway," said Bryant, who enters the weekend Sun Belt Conference series at North Texas as UL's fourth-leading hitter. "But I see the ball pretty well and I draw a lot of walks, and with (Danyele) Gomez, Lacey (Bertucci) and Ashley (Evans) we've got three great chances to get me in."

Other than her power numbers - nine homers this year and 34 in her career, tied for the fifth-highest total in Cajun history - the senior second baseman from Beaumont, Texas, may be the perfect leadoff.

Most leadoff hitters in softball are strike-zone guarding slap hitters, trying anything to get on base. Bryant can hit her own way on base, with her current .324 average including no slap hits. She's walked more in her career than any Cajun in history and leads the team with 29 walks this year. Admittedly, UL doesn't steal much, but she leads the team with six thefts in eight tries.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com