The Book: Lady Cajuns softball 2007 Season

[OldBullDog]

Safe by a mile

[LuLu]

Karlie was safe. Blue was somewhere else. I saw it, real life. There was no question. We did get some bad calls. The two games were very good. There was a nice crowd on hand. It was a great night for softball.

Becky McMurty, the NSU coach got some flowers to start the game. It was a homecoming. She is doing a great job with her charges. Look for NSU to be an excellent team soon. I noticed the batters were reacting just like ours. Becky is using the method Mike used with her. You go girl! She learned something good and she is using it. The four home runs NSU had looked so EASY!

Also, Shari Sigur of Lafayette High was one of Becky's players when she coached at LHS. This could be the reason Shari didn't make the whole game. Becky is so smart.

[LuLu]

Our Conference is improving. It made a major jump when FAU joined. South Alabama is a first year program and is surprising. North Texas has a second year coach and is greatly improved. It won't have such a low RPI this year.

If you look at the NFCA poll for this week. You will notice that parity is the key word in the won loss records. In this poll, in the top ten, three are from the SEC; Tenn, Alabama and LSU, three are from the Big 12; Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M, two are from the Pac 10; AZ and AZ State (Top ten in previous years was all Pac 10), and two are from the Big 10; Northwestern and Michigan. So, the wins are getting spread around. Is that good for us? Maybe, maybe not.

To be invited to Regionals, a team looking for an At large bid needs to have fewer than 10 losses. IMHO. Will we have that? Hope so.

[VObserver]

In this poll, in the top ten, three are from the SEC; Tenn, Alabama and LSU, three are from the Big 12; Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M, two are from the Pac 10; AZ and AZ State (Top ten in previous years was all Pac 10), and two are from the Big 10; Northwestern and Michigan. So, the wins are getting spread around. Is that good for us? Maybe, maybe not.

Over the long run, I believe it is NOT good for us. In years past, only the PAC 10 and, to a lesser extent, the Big XII, cared about fielding quality teams. Now that the money schools in the SEC and Big X are also involved, the pool of quality players is further diluted; and the schools with less money will be less able to compete at a high level. Note the absence of any of the traditional California 'small school' powers from the Top 10. The squeeze has been put on them already, as the out of state 'Big Girls' are now recruiting California hard.

For an exact analogy, look at Old Dominion and LTU in women's basketball.

[ChanceEncounter]

Karlie was safe. Blue was somewhere else. I saw it, real life. There was no question. We did get some bad calls. The two games were very good. There was a nice crowd on hand. It was a great night for softball.

Thanks I came here today to see if she was safe. Looks like the answer is yes but not officially.

[DaddyCajun]

OK here you go, the picture from when the ball was caught.

It looks to me like Karli has been there so long she could use the base as a pilow

She is safe by a long shot, she was in this pic spitting the dirt from her mouth and getting ready to call time to dust off and the third basewomen was just getting the ball in her glove!!!!

S A F E!!!!
Great pics Turbine!!
DaddyCajun

[Cajun Express]

She is safe by a long shot, she was in this pic spitting the dirt from her mouth and getting ready to call time to dust off and the third basewomen was just getting the ball in her glove!!!!

S A F E!!!!
Great pics Turbine!!
DaddyCajun

That would be first base woman.

[NewsCopy]

UL's softball team will be looking to put some distance between itself and the rest of the Sun Belt Conference this weekend, but before the Cajuns do that they'll try to keep a winning streak going tonight. And, ironically, they'll be doing it against a team that also had last weekend off, although it wasn't planned that way. The Cajuns, 34-7 and winners of six in a row and 13 of their last 14, travel to Lake Charles for a 6 p.m. single game against McNeese State (14-24). UL hasn't played since a taking a twinbill sweep from Northwestern State last Wednesday, taking advantage of its open weekend in Sun Belt play. Tonight's game is also the only outing for UL before the weekend's Sun Belt home series against Florida International, with the Cajuns holding a percentage-point lead over Troy nearing the mid-point of the league chase. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

When UL and Florida International square off in softball, a high spot in the Sun Belt Conference standings is usually on the line. It is again for the Ragin' Cajuns (34-8, 7-2) softball team, who play FIU in a day-earlier-than-normal Sun Belt series this weekend. The teams square off in a 1 p.m. doubleheader today at UL's Lamson Park and will play a wrapup single game Saturday at 1 p.m. UL is currently percentage points ahead of the field in the Sun Belt standings, and for once the Golden Panthers (14-26, 2-7) aren't one of the teams right behind and chasing the Cajuns. In fact, FIU has lost seven of its last eight game heading into today's opener, with three losses to Troy and two losses in three games at North Texas over the past two weekends. "They're still a very solid team," said UL coach Stefni Lotief. "We've had some pretty good battles with them in the past and we don't expect anything different this time." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

UL junior Holly Tankersley has been named as one of the 25 finalists for the 2007 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year Award, the Amateur Softball Association said. Tankersley, a four-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Award winner this season, leads the Cajuns in all major hitting categories leading the team with a .377 batting average and 11 home runs. She has 42 RBIs on 49 hits and has scored 35 runs on the season. She also pitches for the Cajuns, recording an 11-4 record on 16 appearances in the circle. The junior holds a 2.31 ERA with 78.2 innings pitched, allowing only 26 earned runs. She has 79 strikeouts this year and opponents have batted .223 against her. LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. – Florida International’s Golden Panthers not only came into Lamson Park on Friday and swept the 15th ranked Ragin’ Cajuns, but they shut them out in both games. In game one, two solo FIU home runs in the fourth inning led them to a 4-0 win. Kim Rodriguez and Ashley Falk hit back-to-back round trippers. In game two, a Rodriguez two-run shot in the sixth inning propelled the Golden Panthers to a 2-0 victory. FIU improves to 16-26 and 4-7 in SBC play with the sweep, while the Cajuns drop to 34-10 overall and 7-4 in conference play. In game one, FIU starter Kerri Houck, checked the Cajuns on four hits as she shutout the Cajuns 4-0. The shutout was the first time this season that UL has been held scoreless. Karli Hubbard had two infield singles for Louisiana, Holly Tankersley added a double and Meagan Godwin a single. Houck improved to 7-13 and FIU to 15-26 on the season. Tankersley took the loss for UL and falls to 11-4 overall. With the loss in game one the Cajuns dropped to 34-9, and loss two consecutive games for the first time this season. FIU broke the ice in the top of the third inning in game one, as Katie Bell doubled to left center with one out and advanced to third on Desiree Bank’s single through the left side. Bell scored on a Cajun error and the Golden Panthers took a 1-0 lead. Rodriguez and Falk hit their back-to-back homeruns in the top half of the fourth for FIU as the Golden Panthers added three more runs to take a 4-0 lead. The Cajuns loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, but were unable to push across a run. Meagan Godwin and Karli Hubbard each had two-out singles in the inning. The Golden Panthers broke the scoreless tie in game two, in the top of the sixth inning as Tabitha Embry led off with a single to centerfield. Monique White followed with a two run home run to centerfield and after five and half inning of play, FIU led 2-0. The two-run sixth inning would be the only scoring in the second game as FIU completed the sweep of the Friday doubleheader with the 2-0 win. Golden Panthers pitcher Penny Eastman improved to 9-10 on the season as she tossed the one-hit shutout. The only hit Eastman gave up was a Tara Hamilton bunt single in the Cajuns half of the fifth inning. The two teams will complete the series with a single game on Saturday afternoon at Lamson Park. Game time is set for 1:00pm. LOUISIANA SI

[ulforlife]

_ _

They'll be lucky to still be in the top 25 after this weekend is over. I don't know what is going on but we haven't guaranteed anything yet for post season and this sure isn't helping our chances.

McNeese & FIU have AWFUL records

[NewsCopy]

Call it the lost weekend. Prior to the last two days, UL's softball team had lost only one Sun Belt Conference series in school history, and had never gone winless in one before. That streak ended in a big way Saturday, and the Cajuns can thank Florida International's Tabitha Embry for the infamous place in its record book. Embry, FIU's catcher, poked three home runs Saturday afternoon at Lamson Park, providing five of FIU's eight runs in an 8-3 victory over the shell-shocked Cajun squad. UL (34-11, 7-4 Sun Belt) had lost to the Golden Panthers by 4-0 and 2-0 counts in Friday's first two games of the weekend. The Cajuns' only previous loss in a Sun Belt series came earlier this year when Middle Tennessee took two of three games in the first series of the season. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

The last time UL's softball team lost three straight home games, Ronald Reagan was President - in his first term. That was in 1982, late in the program's second-ever season and well before the Cajuns began their run that now includes 16 NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 17 seasons. Getting back on track for another postseason run, and putting itself back into position for an eighth straight Sun Belt Conference title, is the objective today when the Cajuns (34-11, 7-5) travel for a first-ever meeting with South Alabama (27-15, 7-5). The teams will play a 1 p.m. doubleheader today at Jaguar Field and a single game at 1 p.m. Sunday. It will be the first-ever meetings between the clubs, since the host Jaguars inaugurated their program this season. USA's not your typical first-year program, though. Coach Becky Clark led the crosstown University of Mobile squad to three straight top-four finishes in the NAIA national tournament before coming to USA in 2005, and four players from her Mobile squad came with her. USA's roster also includes seven transfers from other colleges. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

South Alabama hosts defending Sun Belt Conference softball champion Louisiana for a three-game series this weekend. The Jags and 15th-ranked Ragin' Cajuns play a doubleheader at 1 p.m. today, then meet again at 1 p.m. Sunday. Both teams are 7-5 in conference play and tied for third. USA is 27-15 overall. ULL, which is on a four-game losing streak, is 34-11. The series features the top two hitters in the Sun Belt -- USA's Tara Donaldson, who is hitting .400, and ULL's Holly Tankersley, who has a .372 batting average and leads the league with 42 RBIs. UL pitcher Brittany Cuevas leads the Sun Belt with 192 strikeouts in 191 innings. The source of the story