The Book: Lady Cajuns softball 2007 Season

[NewsCopy]

New Orleans – Lady Cajun freshmen Melissa Verde and Brittany Cuevas were respectively named the Sun Belt Conference’s Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week, the league office announced on Monday. The duo helped lead ULL to a 4-1 record last week defeating CUSA member Houston in non-conference action before taking two of three from SBC leader Troy over the weekend. Verde went 8-of-15 from the plate (.533), hitting a double, three homeruns and knocking in nine RBIs. The freshman had 18 total bases and finished the week with a 1.200 slugging percentage. On the diamond, Verde committed only one error in 22 chances at third base. In the circle, Cuevas pitched three complete games for a total of 19 innings. She only gave up four hits in the three games, surrendering no runs. She struck out 22 batters she faced in the 19 innings. She pitched two two-hitters, a 5-0 decision against Houston on Wednesday and then 8-0 against Troy on Sunday. Cuevas no-hit Troy on Saturday in a 7-0 win over the Trojans. The source of the story www.sunbeltsports.org

[CajunGuru]

_ I wonder if they might redshirt Bourgeois. Would probably be a good idea considering the depth we will probably have next year at pitcher. _

That is the plan at this time, as per the staff. But, they thought the same thing about Valle Gaspard as well. I think the fall will have alot to say about what happens with Bourgeois. She is an excellent athlete like Holly(Wood) Tankersley and she can really swing the bat well too.

[NewsCopy]

The numbers are staggering, really. And it's that fact which whets the imagination of Middle Tennessee softball coach Leigh Podlesny. In a nutshell, the Blue Raiders' coach is this close, yet so far away. But that's the mystique UL enjoys. And it's that combination of envy and jealousy that has a handful of Sun Belt teams dreaming about 2007 finally being the season when the Ragin' Cajuns' monopoly over the league is snapped. "If you had asked me at the beginning of the season if I'd be happy with where we're at right now - absolutely," Podlesny said. "But we don't take anything for granted, either. We know we have to take care of our business or that big shadow of Lafayette () is going to hang over us again." And it really is wacky to look at the possible combinations involved that could disrupt the Ragin' Cajuns continuing to dominate Sun Belt softball. But the fact remains, UL is currently on the outside looking in. The rest of the story Bob Heist Sports Editor, Advertiser

[LuLu]

Check this link out. It is the offical NCAA Women's Softball RPI. UL is ranked # 20.

http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/weekly.07WSBrpi1.html

Looking good!

[Diapason]

I have never seen an official RPI

[El Sidonio]

This is VERY good. Considering the rough stretches we've endured this season, to still be in #20 RPI is outstanding. This will go a LONG way in helping us get into postseason play if we should happen to falter in the conference tourney.

Interesting question: Since our RPI will prolly be good enough to get into the NCAA tourney whether we win or lose the conf. tourney, do you think it's possible that we'd lose in the conf. tourney but still get in the NCAA, while some upstart-lotta-luck sunbelt team would win the conf. tourney but not be good enough to get into the NCAA since SBC is not yet auto bid for conf winner? Is that possible? Am I making sense? Probably not, since the work day has been long. haha.

Y'all have a good one.

God Bless

GEAUX UL RAGIN CAJUN SOFTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The NCAA's softball Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings are no longer the deep, dark secret that they've been in the past, and UL coach Stefni Lotief is glad of that. "If the committee's going to use it as a tool to make decisions, it's better that it's out there," Lotief said Thursday. "Everyone can see it and everyone knows where they stand." The Ragin' Cajuns, preparing for their next-to-last Sun Belt Conference weekend of the season Saturday and Sunday at North Texas, are ranked 20th in this week's first official release of RPI ratings. This season is the first that the NCAA's RPI lists have been made public. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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UL's softball team needed big performances from one regular source and one unlikely source Saturday, and Lacey Bertucci and Amanda Hill provided those performances. Bertucci had a three-run homer to bring the Cajuns back from a 3-0 deficit, and Hill had a solid pitching performance over the final four and one-third innings as UL held on for a 6-5 victory over North Texas in the first game of their Sun Belt Conference doubleheader at UNT's Lovelace Stadium in Denton, Texas. Buoyed by that performance, UL scored six runs in the first inning of the nightcap and rolled to a 12-3 victory that boosted the Cajuns into a tie for second place in the Sun Belt standings. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[LuLu]

Did anyone notice that Codi Runyan did not play in these games?

[Turbine]

_ Did anyone notice that Codi Runyan did not play in these games? _

A throw by Runyan helped UL beat Oklahoma at the Kia Classic last year.

I wonder if she is hurt, or is it a cold bat, or something else?

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UL's softball team only scored in one inning Sunday, but that was enough. And because it was enough, the Ragin' Cajuns remain in the hunt for a seventh straight Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship. The Cajuns put up four runs in the third inning against North Texas, and followed the two-hit pitching of freshman Brittany Cuevas the rest of the way in posting a 4-2 victory over the Mean Green at UNT's Lovelace Stadium in Denton, Texas. The win completed a three-game Sun Belt sweep for the 22nd-ranked Cajuns (42-13, 13-7) and left them one-half game behind league-leading Troy (14-7) in the conference standings with one regular-season weekend to go. If UL sweeps its final three-game series at last-place UL Monroe Saturday and Sunday and Troy loses one of its three finale games at home against South Alabama, the Cajuns would claim the league title and the No. 1 seed for the Sun Belt Tournament May 9-12 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. "It certainly gives us a little more to play for," said Cajun coach Stefni Lotief. "It makes for an interesting last weekend." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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After all the trials and tribulations and all the talk of a rebuilding year, UL's softball team is three wins and a little help away from retaining its post as the only champion in Sun Belt Conference history. The Ragin' Cajuns travel to face struggling UL Monroe (3-18 Sun Belt) in their final league series Saturday and Sunday. If the Cajuns sweep that three-game set, they'll force Troy to do the same against South Alabama to hang on for the regular-season title. If the Trojans slip up once, a UL sweep in Monroe would add to the regular-season crowns that the Cajuns have won each season since softball became a Sun Belt sport in 2001. UL has also won every league tournament since that event was inaugurated in 2000 (the league played only a tournament that year before starting regular-season play in 2001), and will be one of the favorites again in this year's event May 9-12 in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Call it the divine secrets of the rah-rah sisterhood. Lacey Bertucci is related to long-ago president Chester A. Arthur, and one of her desires is to own and operate her own amusement park. Desi Chatman, given her choice, would rather be watching college football or basketball, befitting her all-around athlete status. Tara Hamilton says she's going to visit Fiji to scuba dive one day, and she's part of the way there since she's already got her scuba certification. Different? Sure. But make no mistake, they are sisters. "I'm leaving behind 20 sisters," Chatman said. "It's a sisterhood we have here." "It's like our own sorority," Hamilton said of the UL softball team. "That's what I'm going to miss the most, having this kind of relationship." Hamilton, Chatman and Bertucci are the officers of this sorority, the seniors that will likely play their final games at Lamson Park today when the Ragin' Cajuns host Nicholls State in a 4 p.m. doubleheader. It's the final regular-season home appearance for the 22nd (National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll) and 24th (USA Softball poll) ranked Cajuns. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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MONROE - Even if it's against the bottom team in the league standings, it's never easy to win three straight games. That's the task confronting UL's softball team this weekend, if the Ragin' Cajuns want to continue one of the program's most impressive streaks. The Cajuns (44-13), ranked 22nd (National Fastpitch Coaches Association) and 24th (USA Softball), travel to face UL Monroe in the regular season's final series. The teams play a 1 p.m. doubleheader today and a noon Sunday single game at the ULM Softball Complex. UL is 14-7 in Sun Belt Conference play and one-half game behind Troy (15-7) in the league standings, with Troy entertaining South Alabama (10-10) in a weekend series. The Cajuns must win one more game than the Trojans this weekend to claim the Sun Belt regular-season crown for the seventh straight year - every year the Sun Belt has included softball among its sports. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Zeebart21]

It was not our best performance. But lady Cajuns win the 1st game 5-3

Z.